Gestational trophoblastic disease Detailed Information

Sep 14
14:12

2008

Juliet Cohen

Juliet Cohen

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Gestational trophoblastic illness is also called a choriocarcinoma.

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 Gestational trophoblastic disease is a quick increasing form of cancer that arises in a woman's uterus after a pregnancy,Gestational trophoblastic disease Detailed Information Articles miscarriage, or abortion. It is usually metastatic, which means it spreads to other places in the body. It develops in the uterus when cancerous cells grow in the tissues that are formed following conception (the union of a sperm and egg), and generally becomes evident some 10 to 16 weeks after conception. These tissues, called the trophoblast, develop into the placenta.

The most common symptoms of gestational trophoblastic disease are augmented abdominal swelling, vaginal bleeding during pregnancy and severe nausea and vomiting. Complications may comprise uterine infection, sepsis, hemorrhagic shock, and preeclampsia, which may occur during premature pregnancy. There are three types of Gestational trophoblastic disease include hydatidiform mole, Chorioadenoma and Placental-Site GTD. A hydatidiform mole is a no cancerous form of GTD that occurs when the sperm and egg join but do not develop into a fetus, forming a tissue that resembles grape-like cysts.

Hydatidiform moles arise in only 1 of 1,500 pregnancies in the United States. Chorioadenoma and choriocarcinoma are cancerous types of GTD. Chorioadenoma spreads locally within the muscular wall of the uterus; choriocarcinoma spreads more broadly within the body. Choriocarcinomas are even less common, arising in only 1 of every 20,000-40,000 pregnancies. Placental-site GTD is a very rare form of the disease that arises in the uterus at the locate where the placenta was attached. These tumors usually do not spread to other parts of the body, but they can sometimes go in the muscle layer of the uterus.

Placental site trophoblastic tumors tend to cause bleeding. Gestational trophoblastic disease does not damage fertility or predispose to prenatal or perinatal complications. The two primary approaches for treating GTD are surgery and chemotherapy. Most forms of gestational trophoblastic disease can be cured with prompt management. Surgery and chemotherapy are the most common forms of treatment. Methotrexate and dactinomycin are among the chemotherapy drugs proposed for this condition. Radiation therapy is rarely used, and is usually reserved as part of combination treatment for patients who’s GTD has spread to the brain.