Residual fetal cells in women may provide protection against breast cancer

Fetal cells that persist in a woman`s body long after pregnancy - a common occurrence known in scientific circles as fetal microchimerism - in some cases may reduce the woman`s risk of breast cancer, according to researchers at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center. The findings, published in the Oct. 1 issue of Cancer Research, add to the Jekyll and Hyde characteristics of fetal microchimerism, or FMc, which has been found to be both detrimental and beneficial to women`s health.