choriocarcinoma
Meaning of choriocarcinoma: A fast-growing tumor of placental cells that reaches the lungs early yet responds remarkably well to chemotherapy.
Definition of choriocarcinoma
Choriocarcinoma is a malignant tumor of trophoblast, the cell type that forms the placenta and anchors a pregnancy to the wall of the uterus. It grows quickly, invades blood vessels and spreads early, most often to the lungs. Almost all cases follow a pregnancy of some kind, and the tumor produces the pregnancy hormone hCG, which can be measured to track it.
Where does it come from?
Trophoblast cells are designed to burrow into tissue and to attract a blood supply, which is exactly what they do during implantation. A tumor made of them inherits those abilities. Most cases arise after a molar pregnancy, in which placental tissue develops abnormally, but they also follow miscarriage, an ectopic pregnancy or a normal delivery, sometimes months afterward.
| Preceding event | Relationship |
|---|---|
| Molar pregnancy | The most frequent precursor |
| Miscarriage or termination | Recognized precursor |
| Normal pregnancy | Possible, may present long after delivery |
| Ovary or testis | A separate germ cell tumor, not pregnancy-related |
Why does it spread through the blood?
Unlike most cancers of the reproductive organs, this one largely bypasses the lymph nodes. Trophoblast erodes into vessels naturally, so tumor cells enter the bloodstream early and the lungs, being the first capillary bed downstream, are the usual destination. Deposits there are highly vascular and can bleed. Coughing blood, or bleeding at any distant site, may be the first sign, and the brain and liver can be involved. Irregular bleeding after a pregnancy is the more common presentation.
How is it followed and treated?
The hormone hCG makes this one of the most closely trackable cancers. Levels fall as the tumor responds and rise if it returns, so blood testing rather than repeated imaging guides management, and pregnancy is avoided during that monitoring period because it would raise the same marker. Gestational choriocarcinoma is unusually sensitive to chemotherapy, and cure rates are high even when it has spread widely, which sets it apart from most disease at that stage. It falls within the group of conditions called gestational trophoblastic tumor, and although the name ends in carcinoma it behaves very differently from carcinomas of the lining of an organ.
Also known as
Used in a sentence
Rising hCG after evacuation of a molar pregnancy led to a diagnosis of choriocarcinoma.
Good to know
The hormone hCG serves as a tumor marker that tracks response and relapse, and gestational choriocarcinoma remains highly curable with chemotherapy even after spreading.
Word origin
Where “choriocarcinoma” comes from
Joins the Greek chorion, the membrane enclosing the fetus, with karkinos, meaning crab, the root of carcinoma.