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Official reprint from UpToDatewww.uptodate.com ©2015 UpToDate
Authors
Ross S Berkowitz, MDDonald Peter Goldstein,
MD
Neil S Horowitz, MD
Section Editor
Barbara Goff, MD
Deputy Editors
Don S Dizon, MD, FACPSandy J Falk, MD, FACOG
Initial management of high-risk gestational trophoblastic neoplasia
All topics are updated as new evidence becomes available and our peer review process is complete.
Literature review cur rent through: Jan 2015. | This topic last updated: Jan 06, 2015.
INTRODUCTION — Gestational trophoblastic disease (GTD) defines a group of conditions that arise from an
aberrant fertilization event. When GTD recurs or there is evidence of metastatic disease, it is called gestational
trophoblastic neoplasia (GTN) and comprises four subtypes of disease:
The initial treatment of high-risk GTN is discussed here. The pathol ogy, epidemiology, clinical manifestations,
and staging of GTD are discussed separ ately. In addition, the management of low-risk and recurrent GTN are
also discuss ed separately.
DEFINITION OF HIGH-RISK DISEASE — High-risk gestational trophoblastic neoplasia (GTN) is characterized
by the International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics (FIGO) stage and the World Health Organization
(WHO) risk score (table 1) (see "Gestational trophoblastic neoplasia: Epidemiology, clinical features, diagnosis,
staging, and risk stratification", section on 'Staging and risk assessment'):
Of note, the WHO Prognostic Scoring System is not applicable to patients with placental site trophoblastic
tumor (PSTT) or epithel ioid trophoblastic tumor (ETT), and those patients are not categorized as either low risk
or high risk . They are, however, st aged based on the FIGO Stage. The management of these patients is
discussed below. (See 'Placental site or epithelioid trophoblastic tumor' below.)
APPROACH TO TREATMENT — Gestational trophoblastic neoplasia (GTN) is uniquely sensitive to
chemotherapy, which is the major treatment modality for patients with high-risk disease. The exception to this
is women with placental site trophoblastic tumor (PSTT) or epithelioid trophoblastic tumor (ETT), in which case,
the primary treatment may be a combination of surgery and chemotherapy, primarily because PSTT and ETT
are relatively resistant to chemotherapy as compared with choriocarcinoma and invasive mole. Regardless, in
the treatment of high-risk GTN, other modalities such as surgery and radiation therapy (RT) may be indicated in
addition to chemotherapy.
For patients in whom combination chemotherapy is indicated, treatment may result in ovarian insufficiency.
Therefore, we advocate for the use of oral contraceptives to suppress the pituitary glands' production of
luteinizing hormone which aims to protect the ovaries from the toxicity of chemotherapy and also suppress the
production of human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG), which in our clinical experience, could falsely suggest the
®
®
Invasive mole●
Choriocarcinoma●
Placental site trophoblastic tumor (PSTT)●
Epithelioid trophoblastic tumor (ETT)●
(See "Hydatidiform mole: Epidemiology, clinical features, and diagnosis".)●
(See "Gestational trophoblastic disease: Pathology" .)●
(See "Hydatidiform mole: Management" .)●
(See "Initial management of low-risk gestational trophoblastic neoplasia" .)●
Stage IV disease●
Stages II and III with risk score >6●
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presence of active disease if not suppressed [ 1]. (See "Fertility preservation in patients undergoing gonadotoxic
treatment or gonadal resection", section on 'Gonadal suppression' and"Hydatidiform mole: Management",
section on 'Contraception'.)
Chemotherapy — Patients with high-risk GTN are likely to develop drug resistance if single-agent therapy is
administered. Therefore, these patients are commonly treated with multi-agent regimens. Evidence of the
greater likelihood of resistance to single-agent chemotherapy comes from a retrospective study that included
over 300 patients treated for nonmetastatic GTN [ 2]. Although all patients were cured, 27 of 253 patients (11
percent) initially treated with methotrexate (MTX) developed resistance. In this series, only six patientsexperienced a relapse after obtaining a remission; of these, five patients had a choriocarcinoma.
Our preferred regimen for these patients is etoposide, MTX, plus actinomycin D (ActD) alternating with
cyclophosphamide andvincristine (EMA-CO) because it results in complete response rates between 71 and 78
percent and long-term survival rates of 85 to 94 percent [ 3-11]. However, a 2012 Cochrane review has found that
regimens that incorporate etoposide and cisplatin are effective options, though the lack of randomized trials
prevented an analysis to define the optimal regimen [ 12].
EMA-CO — EMA-CO has emerged as the regimen of choice for initial treatment of high-risk GTN. This is
predominantly based on retrospective data that consistently show it is active in high-risk GTN and is associated
with a low toxicity profile [ 12,13].
The components of this regimen are [ 11]:
Although EMA-CO is the most widely used regimen, there have been no randomized trials to demonstrate that it
should be the preferred regimen. However, compared with other combination regimens, it appears to be as
effective (if not more so) and better tolerated.
This was shown in one report that included over 200 women with high-risk GTN treated with [ 13]:
Of these four regimens, EMA-CO resulted in [ 13]:
In a 2012 systematic review, the administration of EMA-CO was associated with primary remission rates
ranging from 54 to 91 percent of patients [ 12]. These data support the use of EMA-CO as a primary treatment
for high-risk GTN.
Administration — Treatment with EMA-CO should be administered every two to three weeks. Although a
treatment delay or dose reduction may be required due to side effects, these should be avoided as both have
Etoposide – 100 mg/m IV over 30 minutes on days 1 and 2● 2
MTX – 100 mg/m IV bolus followed by 200 mg/m IV over 12 hours on day 1● 2 2
ActD – 0.5 mg IV bolus on days 1 and 2●
Leucovorin calcium – 15 mg orally every 12 hours for four doses, starting 24 hours after start of MTX●
Cyclophosphamide – 600 mg/m IV on day 8● 2
Vincristine – 1.0 mg/m IV on day 8● 2
MTX plus ActD and folinic acid (MA, administered between 1971 and 1995)●
MTX, ActD, cyclophosphamide , doxorubicin, melphalan, hydroxyurea, and vincristine (CHAMOCA,
administered between 1982 and 1995)
●
MTX, ActD, and chlorambucil (MAC, administered between 1971 and 1982)●
EMA-CO (administered between 1985 and 1995)●
The highest remission rate (91 percent) compared with MA, CHAMOCA, and MAC (63, 76, and 68
percent, respectively) and required the fewest number of courses to attain remission
●
The lowest mortality rate (9 percent versus 37, 22, and 33 percent, respectively)●
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been associated with less than optimal outcomes.
Treatment should be continued until the hCG level becomes undetectable and remains undetectable for three
consecutive weeks. Finally, we administer at least three courses of EMA-CO after the patient achieves
undetectable hCG levels as consolidation therapy to reduce the risk of relapse, which is supported by the
limited data. (See "Initial management of low-risk gestational trophoblastic neoplasia", section on 'Consolidation
therapy'.)
The Charing Cross Group has reported the use of induction low-dose etoposide (100 mg/m ) andcisplatin (20
mg/m ) on days 1 and 2 every seven days in selec ted patients with high tumor burden. This has almost
completely eliminated early mortality from respiratory compromise and hemorrhage. They also report a 94
percent remission rate with EMA-CO by carefully excluding non-gestational tumors using genetic analysis [ 14].
Patients with brain metastases — For patients with brain metastases, a neurosurgical consult should be
obtained prior to treatment. These patients are at risk for complications directly related to their brain metastases
or as a consequence of treatment, which may require urgent or emergent treatment (eg, craniotomy for
intracerebral bleeding). For these patients, we administer a modification of systemic EMA-CO that uses a
higher MTX dose (1000 mg/m over 24 hours) than what is routinely adminis tered [15]. The higher dose of
parenteral MTX allows for adequate levels of MTX within the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) [ 15-18]. In addition, these
patients should receive dexamethasone to decreasecerebral edema; however, prophylactic anti-epileptic drugsare generally not recommended in most patients, provided there is no history of an antecedent seizure. (See
"Seizures in patients with primary and metastatic brain tumors" .)
A typical regimen is as follows [ 18]:
Finally, these patients should be closely followed during treatment, which can be done using serial imaging.
Role for intrathecal therapy — The need for intrathecal (IT) therapy in these patients is controversial
[ 16,18-20], and its use alongside high-dose EMA-CO is based on institutional preferences. If administered, MTX
is given as a 12.5 mg dose IT on day 8, followed by leucovorin calcium 15 mg at 24 and 36 hours. However, one
small study that included 15 patients treated with EMA-CO plus IT MTX reported that 87 percent (13 patients)
achieved a sustained remission without the use of whole-brain irradiation [ 18].
Concomitant whole-brain radiation therapy — At the New England Trophoblastic Disease Center
(NETDC), we administer cranial RT (20 to 30 Gy in 2 Gy daily fractions) concurrently with high-dose MTX
chemotherapy. As with the role of IT MTX, the role of cranial RT is also controversial. In addition to shrinking the
brain metastases, concomitant cranial irradiation increases the MTX concentration within the central nervous
system (CNS) [ 21] and reduces the risk of cerebral hemorrhage prior to eradication of tumor, and may improve
survival [ 22,23]. However, the use of concurrent MTX and cranial irradiation also increased the likelihood of
treatment-related toxicity, especially leukoencephalopathy. (See "Delayed complications of cranial irradiation",
section on 'Neurocognitive effects'.)
Cisplatin-containing regimens — In some centers, a modified EMA-CO regimen that incorporatescisplatin is preferentially administered to patients with a risk score >12. The most commonly used combination
replaces vincristine andcyclophosphamide (used in EMA-CO) withetoposide and cisplatin on day 8 (EMA-EP).
EMA-EP alone or in combination with surgery induced complete remission in 16 (76 percent) of 21 patients with
EMA-CO resistance [ 5].
2
2
2
Etoposide – 100 mg/m IV over 60 minutes on days 1 and 2● 2
MTX – 1000 mg/m IV over 24 hours on day 1● 2
ActD – 0.5 mg IV bolus on days 1 and 2●
Leucovorin calcium – 30 mg intramuscular (IM) or orally every 12 hours for three days, starting 32 hours
after treatment with MTX
●
Cyclophosphamide – 600 mg/m IV on day 8● 2
Vincristine – 1.0 mg/m IV on day 8● 2
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While no randomized trials compared EMA-CO with cisplatin-containing regimens, a retrospective study
evaluated outcomes among 83 patients treated with cisplatin-containing treatment and 103 patients treated with
EMA-CO [ 24]. Compared with EMA-CO, incorporation of cisplatin was associated with:
APE — Given the activity ofcisplatin for GTN, one group reported their experience using ActD, cisplatin, and
etoposide (APE) for high-risk GTN that included 59 patients (out of a total of 96) who were treated with this
regimen as initial therapy between 1985 and 2013 [ 25]. Patients with brain metastases or placental site
trophoblastic tumors (PSTT) were excluded from treatment. The overall remission rate for these patients was 95
percent. One patient required treatment discontinuation after four cycles due to grade 2 ototoxicity. The final two
had refractory disease to this regimen, but all three entered remission with second-line EMA-CO therapy. The
five-year disease-free survival rate was 98 percent.
Surgery — Approximately 50 percent of patients with high-risk, metastatic GTN will require adjuvant surgery to
achieve cure, even in the presence of multi-organ involvement [ 26-39]. As an example, in one study of 50
patients with high-risk, metastatic GTN treated with EMA-CO between 1986 and 2005, among 24 patients whounderwent a total of 28 surgical procedures, the cure rate was 87.5 percent. These procedures included
hysterectomy, pulmonary resection, uterine wedge resection, small bowel resection, and selective uterine artery
embolization [ 33]. Surgery is generally performed to resect foci of chemotherapy-resistant disease or to control
complications such as bleeding or infection.
PLACENTAL SITE OR EPITHELIOID TROPHOBLASTIC TUMOR — Although universally accepted guidelines
are not available, patients with placental site trophoblastic tumor (PSTT) or epithelioid trophoblastic tumor (ETT)
should be treated with a combination of surgery and chemotherapy. Multi-agent regimens are usually
administered, including etoposide, methotrexate (MTX), plus actinomycin D (ActD) alternating with
cyclophosphamide andvincristine (EMA-CO) [40] or EMA plus etoposide and cisplatin (EMA-EP) [41]. There
are no prospective data to inform whether one or the other is the preferred regimen. (See "Management of resistant or recurrent gestational trophoblastic neoplasia", section on 'High-risk gestational trophoblastic
neoplasia'.)
Unfortunately, patients with metastatic disease have a poor prognosis and a high fatality rate [ 42-44]. In a 2012
review of the literature that reported on the deaths from gestational trophoblastic neoplasia (GTN), 30 percent
had placental site trophoblastic tumors (PSTT) [ 44]. In addition, one single-institution series of 18 patients with
PSTT reported that five of six who had extrauterine disease ultimately died despite the administration of multi-
agent chemotherapy [ 43]. Survival with PSTT is strongly related to the number of years since the antecedent
pregnancy. Papadopoulos et al, reporting on 34 patients, found that while all 27 patients diagnosed within four
years of the antecedent pregnancy survived, all seven patients died when the antecedent pregnancy was more
than four years [ 42].
MONITORING DURING TREATMENT — As with women who are treated for low-risk gestational trophoblastic
neoplasia (GTN), all women with high-risk GTN should be monitored with serial measurements of serum human
chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) at the start of treatment and then at weekly intervals during therapy. This and
other considerations for patients during treatment are discussed separately. (See "Initial management of low-
risk gestational trophoblastic neoplasia", section on 'Monitoring during treatment'.)
The approximate biologic half-life of hCG is 1.5 to 3 days, and serum levels should fall exponentially (by at least
one log within 18 days). A slower rate of decline suggests the possibility of chemoresistance, although there is
no consensus or clear guideline as to the optimal cutoff for determining chemoresistance or the management of
patients with a slower than expected tumor marker decline [ 45-47].
Definition of remission — Remission is achieved when the quantitative hCG level becomes undetectable for
three consecutive weeks. Given the sensitivity of this tumor marker, no imaging is required if levels are
consistent with remission because abnormalities on imaging can persist despite the attainment of undetectable
A slightly lower remission rate (85 versus 92 percent, respectively)●
A lower number of cycles to achieve a normal hCG level (three versus five courses)●
More toxicity, including fever, nephropathy, nausea, and diarrhea●
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hCG levels, representing fibrosis rather than active tumor.
Persistent or progressive disease — The French Trophoblastic Disease Reference Center in Lyon defines
chemotherapy resistance as an increase or a plateau in two consecutive hCG values over a two-week interval
[ 48]. As described above, other generally accepted criteria include detection of new metastases [ 49]. For
patients who appear to have persistent disease, surgery may be a curative option. The approach to patients who
experience disease progression is discussed separately. (See "Gestational trophoblastic neoplasia:
Epidemiology, clinical features, diagnosis, staging, and risk stratification" .)
PROGNOSIS — The overall cure rate for patients with high-risk gestational trophoblastic neoplasia (GTN) (stage
II to III) ranges between 95 and 100 percent [ 50]. At the New England Trophoblastic Disease Center (NETDC),
we treated 90 patients between July 1965 and December 2013, of whom 77.8 percent had a sustained complete
remission with primary chemotherapy (table 2). As depicted in the table, of those who developed resistance,
second-line therapy ultimately resulted in sustained remission in 85 percent of patients. Overall, 87 (96.7
percent) of 90 patients with high-risk stage II and III GTN achieved complete remission.
For patients with International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics (FIGO) stage IV high-risk GTN, the
prognosis is not as good, though complete remission can be expected in 60 to 70 percent of patients [ 50].
Much of this success is due to the use of combination chemotherapy. After combination chemotherapy was
introduced as primary treatment in this group, the survival rate dramatically improved. Since the introduction of
intensive primary combination chemotherapy with adjunctive surgery and radiation therapy (RT), survival at the
NETDC increased from 30 to 84 percent ( table 3) [ 26].
Prognostic factors — For patients with high-risk GTN, long-term survival appeared to be associated with
variables related to disease extent [ 51]:
Data from the Charing Cross Hospital indicate that survival with hepatic metastases appears to have improvedover time. Excluding early deaths (within four weeks of presentation) and two deaths unrelated to GTN, the
cause-specific survival in 25 patients was 68 percent [ 52,53].
POSTTREATMENT SURVEILLANCE — After remission is achieved, serum human chorionic gonadotropin
(hCG) should be measured monthly until there have been undetectable hCG levels for 12 months [ 54,55].
The follow-up of patients treated for high-risk gestational trophoblastic neoplasia (GTN) is similar to that of
women treated for low-risk GTN and includes considerations of contraception and the timing of subsequent
pregnancies. These issues are discussed separately. (See "Initial management of low-risk gestational
trophoblastic neoplasia", section on 'Posttreatment surveillance' and"Initial management of low-risk gestational
trophoblastic neoplasia", section on 'Fertility and pregnancy' .)
Uterine arteriovenous malformation — Patients treated for GTN that invaded the myometrium (both low-risk
and high-risk) are at risk of developing a uterine artery malformation (also known as an arteriovenous fistula),
which can persist for months or years after remission is achieved. A fistula may remain asymptomatic and
undiagnosed or may present with menorrhagia. The presence of an arteriovenous malformation has also been
associated with recurrent miscarriage. (See "Differential diagnosis of genital tract bleeding in women", section
on 'Arteriovenous malformation'.)
The diagnosis is made with the use of color Doppler transabdominal or endovaginal ultrasonography. Selective
pelvic arteriography clearly identifies the abnormal vascular malformation and helps in evaluating possible
treatment modalities. If symptomatic, treatment consists of hysterectomy or, when preservation of reproductive
function is desired, treatment consists of selective uterine artery embolization [ 56-58].
DIAGNOSIS OF RECURRENT OR RESISTANT DISEASE — Patients whose human chorionic gonadotropin
(hCG) level re-elevates after becoming undetectable for three consecutive weeks are considered to have
recurrent disease. In contrast, patients whose hCG level remains elevated despite treatment are considered to
In the presence of liver metastases, only 27 percent were alive●
If brain metastases were present, the survival rate was 70 percent●
If both were present, only 10 percent were alive●
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have resistant disease. Despite the success of combination chemotherapy, patients treated for high-risk
gestational trophoblastic neoplasia (GTN) have an 8 to 10 percent risk of recurrence, dependent on stage and
risk score [ 59]. This is often detected by a re-elevation in the quantitative serum hCG levels after three
consecutive weeks of undetectable quantitative hCG levels. The approach to patients with recurrent or resistant
disease is discussed separately. (See "Gestational trophoblastic neoplasia: Epidemiology, clinical features,
diagnosis, staging, and risk stratification" .)
SUMMARY AND RECOMMENDATIONS
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REFERENCES
Gestational trophoblastic neoplasia (GTN) is characterized by the International Federation of Gynecology
and Obstetrics (FIGO) stage and the World Health Organization (WHO) risk score (table 1). Patients are
defined as having high-risk GTN if they have stage IV disease or stage II to III disease with a risk score >6.
(See 'Definition of high-risk disease' above.)
●
The WHO Prognostic Scoring System is not applicable to patients with placental site trophoblastic tumor
(PSTT) or epithelioid trophoblastic tumor (ETT). Therefore, patients with these subtypes of GTN are not
categorized as either low risk or high risk. They should be characterized by their FIGO Stage. (See
'Definition of high-risk disease' above.)
●
GTN is uniquely sensitive to chemotherapy, which is the major treatment modality for patients with high-
risk disease. The exception to this is women with PSTT or ETT, in which case, the primary treatment maybe a combination of surgery and chemotherapy, primarily because PSTT and ETT are relatively resistant to
chemotherapy as compared with choriocarcinoma and invasive mole. (See 'Approach to treatment' above.)
●
For patients with high-risk GTN, we recommend multi-agent chemotherapy rather than single-agent
therapy (Grade 1B). We suggest a combination of etoposide, methotrexate (MTX), plus actinomycin D
(ActD) alternating with cyclophosphamide andvincristine (EMA-CO) (Grade 2C). (See 'EMA-CO' above.)
●
For patients with high-risk GTN and brain metastases, a neurosurgical consult should be obtained prior to
treatment. We suggest EMA-CO as the primary systemic treatment, using a higher MTX dose (1000
mg/m over 24 hours) than what is routinely adminis tered otherwise (Grade 2C). We also suggest cranial
radiation therapy (RT) for these patients (Grade 2C). However, for patients who do not wish to proceedwith cranial RT, we suggest additional chemotherapy using intrathecal MTX (Grade 2C). (See 'Patients
with brain metastases' above.)
●
2
Approximately 50 percent of patients with high-risk, metastatic GTN will require adjuvant surgery to
achieve cure, even in the presence of multi-organ involvement. (See 'Surgery' above.)
●
Although universally accepted guidelines are not available, for patients with PSTT or ETT, we suggest a
combination of surgery and chemotherapy (Grade 2C). Multi-agent regimens are usually administered,
including EMA-CO or EMA plus etoposide andcisplatin (EMA-EP). There are no prospective data to
inform whether one or the other is the preferred regimen, and a choice between them is based on
institutional preferences. (See 'Placental site or epithelioid trophoblastic tumor' above.)
●
As with women who are treated for low-risk GTN, all women with high-risk GTN should be monitored with
serial measurements of serum human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) at the start of treatment and then at
weekly intervals during therapy. (See 'Monitoring during treatment' above.)
●
The overall cure rate for patients with high-risk GTN (stage II to III) ranges between 95 and 100 percent.
The extent of disease is a prognostic factor among these patients. (See 'Prognosis' above.)
●
After remission is achieved, serum hCG should be measured monthly until monitoring has shown one year
of normal hCG levels. (See 'Posttreatment surveillance' above.)
●
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massive vaginal bleeding. Int J Gynaecol Obstet 2005; 89:114.
58. McGrath S, Harding V, Lim AK, et al. Embolization of uterine arteriovenous malformations in patients with
gestational trophoblastic tumors: a review of patients at Charing Cross Hospital, 2000-2009. J Reprod Med
2012; 57:319.
59. Goldstein DP, Zanten-Przybysz IV, Bernstein MR, Berkowitz RS. Revised FIGO staging system for
gestational trophoblastic tumors. Recommendations regarding therapy. J Reprod Med 1998; 43:37.
Topic 96232 Version 1.0
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GRAPHICS
FIGO Staging of Gestational Trophoblastic Neoplasia (GTN) and
modified WHO Prognostic Scoring System as adapted by FIGO
Stage
I
Disease confined to the
uterus
Stage
II
GTN extends outside of
the uterus, but is limited
to the genital structures
Stage
III
GTN extends to the lungs,
with
or
without genital tract
involvement
StageIV
All other metastatic sites
The stage should be followed
by the sum of the risk factors
(eg, III:5)
Risk factorScore
0 1 2 4
Age (years) 12
Pretreatment
serum hCG
(mIU/mL)
10
Largest tumor
(including
uterus)
8
Prior failed
chemotherapy
– – Single
drug
≥2
drugs
FIGO: International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics; WHO: World Health Organization;
hCG: human chorionic gonadotropin.
* Interval (in months) between end of antecedent pregnancy and start of chemotherapy.
Original figure modified for this publication. Berkowitz RS, Goldstein DP. Current management of
gestational trophoblastic diseases. Gynecol Oncol 2009; 112:654. Table used with the permission of
Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Graphic 98185 Version 2.0
3 3
4
4
5
5
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Results of chemotherapy in 90 patients with high-risk stage II and
III gestational trophoblastic neoplasia (GTN) (New England
Trophoblastic Disease Center, July 1965 to December 2013)
Stage Treatment Number of
patients Remissions (%)
II 16 16 (100)
Primary 11 11 (68.9)
Second-line 5 5 (31.1)
III 74 71 (95.9)
Primary 59 59 (79.7)
Second-line 15 12 (16.3)
Total 90 87 (96.7)
Primary 70 70 (77.8)
Second-line 20 17 (18.9)
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Results of chemotherapy in 39 patients with stage IV gestational
trophoblastic neoplasia (New England Trophoblastic Disease Center,
July 1965 to December 2013)
Time period Total number of
patients Remissions (%)
1965 to 1975 20 6 (30)
1976 to 2013 19 16 (84)
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Disclosures: Ross S Ber kow itz, MD Nothing to disclose. Donald Peter Goldstein, MD Nothing todis c los e. Neil S Horowitz, MD Nothing to disclose. Barbara Goff, MD Nothing to disclose. Don S
Dizon, MD, FACP Employee of UpToDate, Inc. Sandy J Falk, MD, FACOG Employee of UpToDate, Inc.
Cont ribut or dis c los ures are rev iew ed f or c onf lic t s of int eres t by t he edit orial group. When f ound, t hes e
are addres s ed by v et t ing t hrough a mult i-lev el rev iew proc es s , and t hrough requirement s f or
ref erenc es t o be prov ided t o s upport t he c ont ent . Appropriat ely ref erenc ed c ont ent is required of allaut hors and mus t c onf orm t o UpToDat e s t andards of ev idenc e.
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