Choriocarcinoma of the gallbladder: treated with cisplatin-based chemotherapy

A case of non-gestational choriocarcinoma, primary in the gallbladder, is described. Pathology showed a mixture of adenocarcinoma and choriocarcinoma. A Medline search for the last 10 years has shown no similar cases reported. The use of cisplatin-based chemotherapy to treat non-gestational choriocarcinoma has also not been described. This patient showed a rapidly progressive disease as described in other reported cases of non-gestational choriocarcinoma. However, cisplatin-based chemotherapy, in this patient, produced a partial response defined as significantly decreased beta-HCG titers (more than 50%), and with stable appearance or slightly improvement of hepatic metastasis and survival for 1 yr.