The outcome of a new research carried out by some experts at the University of Washington and fred Hutchison Cancer Research Center in Seatle, both in the United States of America(USA) point to the fact that having children could reduce the risk of getting breast cancer because cells with reduce the risk of getting breast cancer because cells with strong protective characteristics are transferred from the baby in the womb to the mother.
The researchers had reported that they studied 82 women, 35 of whom had been diagnosed with breast cancer, to test a theory that foetal cells, which take up residence in the mother-called foetal micro-chimerism- protect against breast cancer.
” most studies have looked at auto-immune diseases where chimerism has been shown to be bad, but so many women harbour micro- chimerism after pregnancy in detectable levels that I reasoned there must be some reason nature decided this must be a good thing to do,” the lead author on the study, V.K Gadi, had told AFP. ” Perhaps it’s this function of clearing cancer cells from your body.
The research team had searched blood samples from each participant for male DNA, which was easier to isolate DNA from a female child.