Choriocarcinoma associated with ectopic pregnancy

Eight patients with choriocarcinoma associated with ectopic pregnancy were treated at the John I. Brewer Trophoblastic Disease Center of Northwestern University Medical School from 1962 through 1981. This represented 4% of the 197 patients with documented choriocarcinoma or 1.7% of all 459 patients with gestational trophoblastic disease treated with chemotherapy at the center during this 20-year period. The presenting signs and symptoms were similar to those classically outlined for ectopic pregnancies: amenorrhea and abdominal pain (88%), irregular vaginal bleeding (75%), positive pregnancy test (100%), and adnexal mass (50%). Six patients (75%) had metastatic disease and four of these six had one or more high-risk factors. Two patients (25%) died of metastatic disease, both of whom had received chemotherapy elsewhere before referral to the center.