Management of relapsed gestational trophoblastic neoplasia: What can help to reduce the re-recurrence rate?

AIM:To explore the risk factors for re-recurrence in relapsed gestational trophoblastic neoplasia (GTN) and therapeutic approaches to reduce the re-recurrence rate. METHODS:Data of relapsed GTN treated in the Obstetrics and Gynecology Hospital of Fudan University from January 1, 2015, to December 31, 2020, were reviewed retrospectively. Risk factors associated with re-recurrence were analyzed using Logistic regression analysis. RESULTS:A total of 39 relapsed GTN patients were included in our study. At the time of the first relapse, 14 patients received single-agent chemotherapy and 25 patients received multi-agent chemotherapy. Surgery was performed in 19 patients. Complete remission was achieved in all of the patients. Re-recurrence occurred in 21 patients. Univariate analysis suggested that unifocal recurrence was the only factor significantly associated with re-recurrence (OR = 0.25, p = 0.04). Recurrence pattern-based subgroup analysis showed that the proportion of re-recurrence was lower in patients who received both surgery and chemotherapy compared to those who received only chemotherapy in the unifocal recurrence group (3/11 vs. 2/4), but not in the non-unifocal recurrence group (7/8 vs. 9/16). The results of the multivariate analysis showed that there was no significant difference in re-recurrence rates between the surgical approaches and that the non-unifocal recurrence pattern was an independent risk factor for re-recurrence. CONCLUSIONS:For relapsed GTN with unifocal recurrence pattern, surgical removal of the lesion can effectively reduce the re-recurrence rate.