Leptomeningeal spread of gestational trophoblastic neoplasia in a 19-year old woman

Abstract

Gestational trophoblastic neoplasia (GTN) with brain metastasis is usually seen in patients with advanced disease. Ten percent of metastatic gestational trophoblastic disease involves the brain and spinal cord, most often manifesting as an intracerebral mass or subdural hematoma, and are generally known to be a poor prognostic factor (Dadlani et al., 2010). Leptomeningeal metastases are tremendously rare and not well documented in the literature. A standardized treatment regimen for patients with brain metastases has not been established and is controversial due to a number of multimodal treatments that have been published in the literature without a prospective trial having been completed. We report a case of a patient with gestational trophoblastic disease that metastasized to the lung and leptomeninges, who after treatment with induction chemotherapy using etoposide (E) and cisplatin (P) followed by etoposide, methotrexate and dactinomycin (EMA) chemotherapy achieved a complete response without brain radiation (Han et al., 2012).