Gestational trophoblastic disease (GTD) is a group of rare tumors that occur in pregnancy. GTD involves abnormal growth of cells inside a woman's uterus and usually starts in the tissue that would normally become the placenta, in the layer of cells called the trophoblast that normally surrounds an embryo.
Gestational trophoblastic disease is a mostly benign condition, that does not metastasize or invade deeply into tissue though it occasionally can be cancerous (malignant). With GTD it’s possible for a fetus to also develop during these pregnancies.
There are two types of GTD: Hydatidiform mole (HM) and gestational trophoblastic neoplasia (GTN).
Types of Gestational Trophoblastic Disease
Hydatiform mole (also called a molar pregnancy or H.mole) comprises 80% of all GTD.
- Complete mole (without a fetus)
- Incomplete/partial mole (without a fetus)
Gestational trophoblastic neoplasia (GTN):
- Invasive Mole Choriocarcinoma (a type of cancer)
- Placental-site trophoblastic tumor (PSTT)
- Epithelioid trophoblastic tumor (ETT)