Evaluation and influence of lung metastasis on patient outcome in gestational trophoblastic neoplasia: A 10-year study at a single institution.

OBJECTIVES

To evaluate the outcomes and related factors of gestational trophoblastic neoplasia (GTN) with lung metastasis in comparison with GTN without metastasis.

STUDY DESIGN

GTN is a spectrum of diseases arising from trophoblastic cells, and treatment outcome is promising because of its high sensitivity to chemotherapy. Lung metastasis is not usually considered to be an adverse prognostic factor in the evaluation and treatment of GTN. The clinical records of 48 GTN patients with lung metastasis and 162 GTN patients without metastasis were reviewed and analysed retrospectively from 2003 to 2013. Data were compared between patients with and without metastasis.

RESULTS

Twenty-five percent of GTN patients with lung metastasis presented with pre-treatment serum human chorionic gonadotropin ≥10 mIU/mL, which was significantly higher compared with GTN patients without metastasis (9.3 %, p < 0.01). Regarding the International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics (FIGO) score, 39.6 % of patients with lung metastasis were in the high-risk group (FIGO score ≥ 7), compared with 13.6 % of patients without metastasis (p < 0.01). However, on multi-variate analysis, only a FIGO score ≥7 was associated with lung metastasis. The relapse rate of GTN patients with lung metastasis was significantly higher than that of those without metastasis (8.3 % vs 0.6 %, p < 0.05). In the patients who relapsed, non-postmolar GTN, high-risk GTN and first-line chemoresistance were observed more frequently compared with the patients who did not relapse (p < 0.05).

CONCLUSION

GTN patients with lung metastasis appear to have increased risk of relapse compared with GTN patients without metastasis. To overcome this, there is a need to consider adjustment of the FIGO scoring system to enable GTN patients with lung metastasis to receive more intensive chemotherapy.