Impact of the revised FIGO/WHO system on the management of patients with gestational trophoblastic neoplasia

Objective. To study the effect of a change in disease scoring systems on the management of patients with gestational trophoblastic neoplasia (GTN) in our supra-regional treatment centre. Methods. We reviewed disease characteristics and treatment outcomes in 632 GTN patients managed at our centre from 1973 to 2006. Two disease scoring systems were used sequentially, the Sheffield modification of the Charing Cross Scoring System (SCCSS) before 2000, and the revised FIGO/modified WHO system (FIGO 2000) thereafter. Results. Using the SCCSS 573 (90.7%) patients were classified as low risk (LR) and 59 (9.3%) as high risk (HR). With FIGO 2000, 587 (92.9%) were LR and 45 (7.1%) HR. For LR patients, the complete response (CR) to first line single agent chemotherapy was 77% before 2000 and 61.6% from 2000 to 2006. For HR patients, the CR rates with first line chemotherapy were 79.5% and 75% respectively. The higher threshold for assigning a patient as HR using FIGO 2000 had an impact on the success of treatment; only 7/19 patients (37%) who were scored 6 by FIGO 2000, and thus treated as LR with methotrexate/folinic acid, achieved a CR. Conclusion. In Our experience, the revised FIGO/modified WHO scoring system has down scored some patients who would have been considered as high risk with the previous scoring system. A trend to lower CR with first line chemotherapy and an increase in the need for second line chemotherapy was seen. (C) 2009 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.