Is there any connection between pregnancy and cancer metastasis?

Pregnancy might hold the key to understanding how cancer metastasizes in various mammals -- including humans, according to researchers. Kshitiz, assistant professor in the department of biomedical engineering -- a shared department between the School of Dental Medicine, School of Medicine, and School of Engineering -- and Gunter Wagner and Andre Levchenko at Yale University used evolutionary biology to draw the connection in the Nature Ecology & Evolution journal.
Looking at cells from endometrium of various species, Scientists found that in order to resist invasion of the placenta, certain species have evolved over time to make their stromal cells -- the connective tissue cells in an organ -- highly resistant to any invasion.
In contrast, humans are particularly vulnerable to cancer metastasis owing to their highly invasive placentation during pregnancy. This study identified the cause linking the curious similarity between pregnancy and cancer invasion across various mammals.
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Looking at cells from endometrium of various species, Scientists found that in order to resist invasion of the placenta, certain species have evolved over time to make their stromal cells -- the connective tissue cells in an organ -- highly resistant to any invasion.
In contrast, humans are particularly vulnerable to cancer metastasis owing to their highly invasive placentation during pregnancy. This study identified the cause linking the curious similarity between pregnancy and cancer invasion across various mammals.
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