Trophoblastic neoplasia in an African urban population

A clinical study of trophoblastic neoplasia in a Nigerian population in Lagos over a four-year period is reported. A high incidence of one in 379 deliveries for benign trophoblastic tumor and one in 846 deliveries for malignant tumor was found. Seventeen percent of benign trophoblastic tumors in this series progressed to the malignant type, but malignant trophoblastic tumor was preceded by the benign type (hydatidiform mole) in 46 percent of cases. The anterior vaginal wall is a common site for metastases of malignant trophoblastic neoplasia and, in one patient, the lesion progressed further to form a vesicovaginal fistula. While the management of benign disease was conservative, all cases of malignant trophoblastic neoplasia received chemotherapy.