Psychological aspects and fertility issues of GTD

Symptoms of anxiety and depression in women with gestational trophoblastic disease compared to women who had a miscarriage: a cross-sectional study

This study was conducted between March 2020 and February 2021 to analyze anxiety and depression symptoms in 64 women with gestational trophoblastic disease (GTD) and 99 women who had miscarried. The Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) was applied by telephone three months after pregnancy loss. Multivariate analysis was performed using hierarchical logistic regression to evaluate associations between variables. Probable anxiety (HADS-A ≥ 8) and depression (HADS-D ≥ 8) were found in 53.1% and 43.8% of the GTD group and 49.5% and 39.4% of the miscarriage group, with no difference between the groups. Severe symptoms of anxiety (HADS-A 15-21) and depression (HADS-D 15-21) were found, respectively, in 12.5% and 4.7% of the GTD group and in 9.1% and 4.0% of the miscarriage group, also with no difference between the groups. Lack of partner support proved a risk factor for anxiety and depression, while poor education increased the risk of depression symptoms 3.43-fold following pregnancy loss. In conclusion, three months after pregnancy loss the frequency of anxiety and depression symptoms was similarly high in both groups, with poor education and lack of partner support being significant risk factors for the subsequent development of psychiatric morbidity.

Identification of Psychological Profiles of Cancer Patients Undergoing Fertility Preservation Counseling

Gonadotoxicity is one of the most distressing side effects of cancer treatment. Fertility preservation strategies should be included during the treatment pathway to prevent the risk of infertility, but the decision to preserve fertility often represents a challenging process that carries an emotional decision-making burden. The aim of this study is to characterize the psychological profiles of women undergoing fertility preservation counseling and to better understand their features. Eighty-two female cancer patients were included in the study. They were asked to complete a battery of self-administered tests which evaluated socio-demographic characteristics, defense mechanisms, depression, anxiety, and representations regarding the importance of parenthood. Based on the psychometric variables, cluster analysis identified four groups which showed significantly different combinations of these psychological characteristics. An additional analysis was performed to evaluate if sociodemographic variables were associated with the four groups, but the results did not show significant differences. These results suggest that very diverse psychological profiles may lead cancer patients to attend oncofertility counseling and choose fertility preservation. For this reason, all patients in childbearing age should have the opportunity to receive appropriate fertility preservation counseling in order to make an informed decision that could have an important impact on their long-term quality of life.

Advances in diagnostics and management of gestational trophoblastic disease

BACKGROUND

Gestational trophoblastic disease (GTD) is a heterogeneous group of rare tumours characterised by abnormal proliferation of trophoblastic tissue. It consists of benign or premalignant conditions, such as complete and partial molar pregnancy and variants of malignant diseases. The malignant tumours specifically are commonly referred to as gestational trophoblastic neoplasia (GTN). They consist of invasive mole, choriocarcinoma, placental-site trophoblastic tumour (PSTT) and epithelioid trophoblastic tumour (ETT).

CONCLUSIONS

Patients with GTD are often asymptomatic, although vaginal bleeding is a common presenting symptom. With the advances in ultrasound imaging in early pregnancy, the diagnosis of molar pregnancy is most commonly made in the first trimester of pregnancy. Sometimes, additional imaging such as chest X-ray, CT or MRI can help detect metastatic disease. Most women can be cured, and their reproductive function can be preserved. In this review, we focus on the advances in management strategies for gestational trophoblastic disease as well as possible future research directions.

Experience of women on the Irish National Gestational Trophoblastic Disease Registry

OBJECTIVE

Gestational Trophoblastic Disease (GTD) is a rare pregnancy related disorder and the most curable of all gynaecological malignancies. GTD comprises the premalignant conditions of complete or partial hydatidiform mole known as molar pregnancy and a spectrum of malignant disorders termed gestational trophoblastic neoplasia. Clinical management and treatment in specialist centres is essential to achieve high cure rates and clinical guidelines recommend registration with a GTD centre as a minimum standard of care. National GTD registries are valuable repositories of epidemiological data and facilitate clinical audit, centralised pathology review and human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) monitoring. This study sought the opinion of women enrolled on the Irish National GTD registry to inform future service development and establish a knowledge base for molar pregnancy in Ireland.

STUDY DESIGN

A cross-sectional survey using an anonymised questionnaire was distributed by post to all women on the GTD registry. The questionnaire was designed by a multidisciplinary team and consisted of twenty-five closed-ended questions and two open-ended questions to facilitate feedback. Data collected in the survey included information on the patient experience of registration, knowledge of molar pregnancy, diagnosis at their local hospital, hCG monitoring and overall satisfaction with the service.

RESULTS

The survey had a successful participation rate of 42.6% (215/504). Forty-nine percent (n = 106) of respondents rated a rapid hCG result as their top priority. Forty percent (n = 84) of women had concerns about future pregnancies but acknowledged that these were largely addressed by the GTD specialist nurses. A quarter of respondents reported that other medical professionals with whom they interacted during follow-up treatment did not understand their condition. Many women commented on the emotional stress of attending their local maternity unit for phlebotomy while dealing with pregnancy loss.

CONCLUSION

This study is unique in being the first survey of women on the Irish National GTD registry. It highlights the specific needs of women with molar pregnancy in terms of psychological support, bereavement counselling and peer support groups. It reveals a knowledge gap in molar pregnancy amongst healthcare professionals which should be considered in future planning of medical and nursing curricula.

Perinatal outcomes of first pregnancy after chemotherapy for gestational trophoblastic neoplasia: a systematic review of observational studies and meta-analysis

OBJECTIVE

To assess perinatal outcomes of first pregnancy after remission from gestational trophoblastic neoplasia and the impact of the time between the end of chemotherapy and the subsequent pregnancy.

DATA SOURCES

The Medical Subject Headings related to perinatal outcomes, chemotherapy, and gestational trophoblastic neoplasia were used alone or in combination to retrieve relevant articles. We searched all references registered until April, 2019 in Embase, LILACS, MEDLINE, the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, and Web of Science.

STUDY ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA

We included any observational or interventional studies that evaluated perinatal outcomes of first pregnancy after chemotherapy for gestational trophoblastic neoplasia. Animal studies, narrative reviews, expert opinions, and previous treatments with potential risks for future perinatal outcomes which may introduce confounding bias were excluded.

STUDY APPRAISAL AND SYNTHESIS METHODS

Two reviewers independently screened all identified references for eligibility and data extraction. Methodological quality and bias of included studies were assessed using the Quality Assessment Tool for Observational Cohort and Cross-Sectional Studies from the National Institutes of Health. For the meta-analysis, the measures of association were calculated using bivariate random-effects models. Statistical heterogeneity was evaluated with I² statistics and explored through sensitivity analysis. Publication bias was assessed by visual inspection of the funnel plot or Egger's test, according to the number of articles included. For all analyses, a P value of <.05 indicated statistical significance. This study was registered on PROSPERO (CRD42018116513).

RESULTS

A total of 763 studies were identified after literature search and 23 original studies were included in the systematic review and in the meta-analysis. The combined data from the subgroup meta-analysis (outcome vs time after chemotherapy) showed an incidence of spontaneous abortion of 15.28% (95% confidence interval, 12.37-18.74; I²=73%), 3.30% of malformation (95% confidence interval, 2.27-4.79; I²=31%), 6.19% of prematurity (95% confidence interval, 5.03-7.59; I²=0), and 1.73% of stillbirth (95% confidence interval, 1.17-2.55; I²=0%). These results were not influenced by the time between the end of chemotherapy and the subsequent pregnancy in most of the studied outcomes, including malformation (P=.14, I²=31%), prematurity (P=.46, I²=0), and stillbirth (P=.66, I²=0). However, there was a higher occurrence of spontaneous abortion (P<.01, I²=73%) in pregnancies that occurred ≤6 months after chemotherapy.

CONCLUSION

Chemotherapy for gestational trophoblastic neoplasia does not appear to increase the chance of unfavorable perinatal outcomes, except for the higher occurrence of spontaneous abortion in pregnancies occurring ≤6 months after chemotherapy.

Association between gestational trophoblastic disease (GTD) history and clinical outcomes in in vitro fertilization/intracytoplasmic sperm injection (IVF/ICSI) cycles

BACKGROUND

Gestational trophoblastic disease (GTD) usually affects young women of childbearing age. After treatment for GTD, 86% of women wish to achieve pregnancy. On account of the impacts of GTD and treatments as well as patient anxiety, large numbers of couples turn to assisted reproductive technology (ART), especially in vitro fertilization/intracytoplasmic sperm injection (IVF/ICSI). But few studies have investigated whether a history of GTD affects the outcomes of IVF/ICSI in secondary infertile patients and how it occurs. We investigate whether a history of GTD affects the IVF/ICSI outcomes and the live birth rates in women with secondary infertility.

METHODS

This retrospective cohort study enrolled 176 women with secondary infertility who underwent IVF/ICSI treatment at the reproductive medical center of Nanjing Drum Tower Hospital from January 1, 2016, to December 31, 2020. Participants were divided into the GTD group (44 women with GTD history) and control group (132 women without GTD history matched from 8318 secondary infertile women). The control group and the study group were matched at a ratio of 3:1 according to patient age, infertility duration, number of cycles and body mass index (BMI). We assessed retrieved oocytes and high-grade embryos, biochemical pregnancy, miscarriage, ectopic pregnancy, gestational age at delivery, delivery mode and live birth rates.

RESULT(S)

We found a significantly reduced live-birth rate (34.1% vs 66.7%) associated with IVF/ICSI cycles in patients with a GTD history compared to those without a GTD history. The biochemical pregnancy and miscarriage rates of the GTD group were slightly higher than those of the control group. In addition, there was a difference in gestational age at delivery between the GTD and control groups (p < 0.001) but no differences in the mode of delivery (p = 0.267). Furthermore, the number of abandoned embryos in the GTD group was greater than that in the control group (p = 0.018), and the number of good-quality embryos was less than that in the control group (p = 0.019). The endometrial thickness was thinner (p < 0.001) in the GTD group. Immunohistochemistry (IHC) showed abnormal endometrial receptivity in the GTD group.

CONCLUSION(S)

The GTD history of patients undergoing IVF/ICSI cycles had an impact on the live-birth rate and gestational age at delivery, which might result from the thinner endometrium and abnormal endometrial receptivity before embryo transfer.

Advances in the diagnosis and early management of gestational trophoblastic disease

Gestational trophoblastic disease describes a group of rare pregnancy related disorders that span a spectrum of premalignant and malignant conditions. Hydatidiform mole (also termed molar pregnancy) is the most common form of this disease. Hydatidiform mole describes an abnormal conceptus containing two copies of the paternal genome, which is classified as partial when the maternal genome is present or complete when the maternal genome is absent. Hydatidiform mole typically presents in the first trimester with irregular vaginal bleeding and can be suspected on ultrasound but confirmation requires histopathological evaluation of the products of conception. Most molar pregnancies resolve without treatment after uterine evacuation, but occasionally the disease persists and develops into gestational trophoblastic neoplasia. Close monitoring of women after molar pregnancy, with regular measurement of human chorionic gonadotrophin concentrations, allows for early detection of malignancy. Given the rarity of the disease, clinical management and treatment is best provided in specialist centres where very high cure rates are achievable. This review looks at advances in the diagnosis and early management of gestational trophoblastic disease and highlights updates to disease classification and clinical guidelines. Use of molecular genotyping for improved diagnostic accuracy and risk stratification is reviewed and future biomarkers for the earlier detection of malignancy are considered.