Noninvasive prenatal testing (NIPT) is a blood test pregnant women get in order to examine the fetus’s DNA. The Mayo Clinic reported NIPTs can “determine whether your baby is at risk of Down syndrome, extra sequences of chromosome 13, 18, or a sex chromosome abnormality, such as Turner syndrome.” And according to a new report from Tufts Medical Center in Boston, NIPTs may also detect cancer.

Marin Mejia was pregnant with her second child, Owen, when the results of her NIPT came back abnormal. Since the test registers DNA from the mother and baby, doctors conducted additional testing on the fetal DNA, determining the baby was in fact healthy. Mejia, on the other hand, was not. Her additional testing revealed she had advanced anal cancer, which has since progressed to her lymph nodes and lungs.

“If there’s cancer, the tumor is shedding DNA into the mother’s blood as well, and that is what accounting for this imbalance,” Dr. Diana Bianchi, of TMC, explained in an interview with CBS Boston. With Mejia’s diagnosis, her doctors delivered Owen at 32 weeks so that she could start chemotherapy and radiation.

“I’m thankful for every minute I get to spend with them,” Mejia told CBS. “I refuse to believe there’s going to be any other outcome other than it’s all going to be OK. Because the alternative is unfortunately not something I even want to think about.”

Luckily, Mejia’s cancer nodules seem to be shrinking. She’ll undergo additional testing later this month. CBS speculates cancer specialists and oncologists will consider the potential NIPTs have to screen for cancer in the future.