New Mom Fights Rare Cancer after Giving Birth to Twins

A young New York mother is fighting for her life against placenta cancer just after giving birth to her twin daughters.

The 26-year-old has since been put in a medically induced coma, reports ABC News, with tumors having spread to her lungs. As Dr. David Landsberg of Crouse Hospital explains, “Placental tissue grows at a very rapid rate to support the fetus, which explains why the cancer is so aggressively metastatic. It grows into the uterus and once it gets out, it’s looking for somewhere else to grow.”

The rare form of cancer, choriocarcinoma, is a malignant form of gestational trophoblastic disease (GTD) that causes abnormal growth of cells in the uterus of a woman. According to the American Cancer Society, this particular type of cancer affects just around two to seven of every 100,000 pregnancies in the U.S.

Choriocarcinoma grows very quickly and spreads to other organs apart from the uterus. Reports suggest that around 25 percent of the women who develop this disease miscarry. Dr. David Landsberg, chief of Medicine for Crouse Hospital, says that the cancer has spread to Jenna’s lungs but had not reached the brain. He added that the cancer is a curable tumor.

Agencies/Canadajournal