Editorial
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2019. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Clin Oncol. Feb 24, 2019; 10(2): 28-37
Published online Feb 24, 2019. doi: 10.5306/wjco.v10.i2.28
Challenges in the diagnosis and treatment of gestational trophoblastic neoplasia worldwide
Antonio Braga, Paulo Mora, Andréia Cristina de Melo, Angélica Nogueira-Rodrigues, Joffre Amim-Junior, Jorge Rezende-Filho, Michael J Seckl
Antonio Braga, Paulo Mora, Postgraduate Program of Medical Sciences, Fluminense Federal University, Niterói 24033-900, Brazil
Antonio Braga, Joffre Amim-Junior, Jorge Rezende-Filho, Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics, Faculty of Medicine, Rio de Janeiro Federal University, Postgraduate Program of Perinatal Health, Maternity School, Rio de Janeiro 22240-000, Brazil
Paulo Mora, Andréia Cristina de Melo, Brazilian National Cancer, Hospital do Câncer 2, Rio de Janeiro 20220-410, Brazil
Angélica Nogueira-Rodrigues, Department of Internal Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Minas Gerais Federal University, Belo Horizonte 30130-100, Brazil
Michael J Seckl, Department of Medical Oncology, Charing Cross Gestational Trophoblastic Disease Centre, Charing Cross Hospital, Imperial College London, London W6 8RF, United Kingdom
Author contributions: Braga A and Seckl MJ conceived the study; all authors drafted the manuscript and approved the final version of the article.
Conflict-of-interest statement: The authors have no conflict of interest to declare.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Antonio Braga, MD, PhD, Professor, Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics, Faculty of Medicine, Rio de Janeiro Federal University, Postgraduate Program of Perinatal Health, Maternity School, Rua das Laranjeiras, 180, Laranjeiras, Rio de Janeiro 22240-000, Brazil. bragamed@yahoo.com.br
Telephone: +55-21-992040007 Fax: +55-21-22857935
Received: August 1, 2018
Peer-review started: August 1, 2018
First decision: August 31, 2018
Revised: November 12, 2018
Accepted: January 1, 2019
Article in press: January 1, 2019
Published online: February 24, 2019
Processing time: 205 Days and 5.3 Hours
Core Tip

Core tip: Gestational trophoblastic neoplasia is a cancer that originates from placental tissue, with potential for invasion and widespread metastasis. It secretes human chorionic gonadotrophin, which serves as a highly useful biomarker that contributes to the diagnosis, monitoring of therapeutic response, subsequent early detection of relapse and assessment of cure. Once the diagnosis is made, staging and International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics/World Health Organization prognostic risk score should be obtained, to initiate the treatment of choice – chemotherapy, which allows high cure rates, especially if the treatment occurs in Reference Centers, which has specialized staff in the treatment of this neoplasm.