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Objective: To relate the distance traveled from the patient's residence to the gestational trophoblastic neoplasia (GTN) reference center (RC) and the occurrence of unfavorable clinical outcomes, as well as to estimate the possible association between this distance and the risk of metastatic disease at presentation, the need for multiagent chemotherapy to achieve remission and loss to follow-up before remission., Study Design: Retrospective historical cohort study of patients with GTN followed at 8 Brazilian GTN-RC, from January 1st, 2000 - December 31st, 2017., Results: Evaluating 1055 cases of GTN, and using a receiver operating characteristic curve, we found a distance of 56 km (km) from the residence to the GTN-RC (sensitivity = 0.57, specificity = 0.61) best predicted the occurrence of at least one of the following outcomes: occurrence of metastatic disease, need for multiagent chemotherapy to achieve remission, or loss to follow-up during chemotherapy. Multivariate logistic regression adjusted by age, ethnicity, marital status and the reference center location showed that when the distance between residence and GTN-RC was ≥56 km, there was an increase in the occurrence of metastatic disease (relative risk - RR:3.27; 95%CI:2.20-4.85), need for multiagent chemotherapy (RR:1.36; 95%CI:1.05-1.76), loss to follow-up during chemotherapy (RR:4.52; 95CI:1.93-10.63), occurrence of chemoresistance (RR:4.61; 95%CI:3.07-6.93), relapse (RR:10.27; 95%CI:3.08-34.28) and death due to GTN (RR:3.62; 95%CI:1.51-8.67)., Conclusions: The distance between the patient's residence and the GTN-RC is a risk factor for unfavorable outcomes, including death from this disease. It is crucial to guarantee these patients get prompt access to the GTN-RC and receive follow-up support., (Copyright © 2023 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Objective: To assess whether the incidence and aggressiveness of molar pregnancy (MP) and postmolar gestational trophoblastic neoplasia (GTN) changed during the COVID-19 pandemic., Design: Observational study with two separate designs: retrospective multicentre cohort of patients with MP/postmolar GTN and a cross-sectional analysis, with application of a questionnaire., Setting: Six Brazilian Reference Centres on gestational trophoblastic disease., Population: 2662 patients with MP/postmolar GTN treated from March-December/2015-2020 were retrospectively evaluated and 528 of these patients answered a questionnaire., Methods: Longitudinal retrospective multicentre study of patients diagnosed with MP/ postmolar GTN at presentation and a cross-sectional analysis, with application of a questionnaire, exclusive to patients treated during the period of study, to assess living and health conditions during the COVID-19 pandemic compared with previous years., Main Outcome Measures: The incidence of MP/postmolar GTN., Results: Compared with the last 5 pre-pandemic years, MP/postmolar GTN incidence remained stable during 2020 (COVID-19 pandemic). Multivariable logistic regression, adjusted for the patient age, showed that during 2020, presentation with MP was more likely to be >10 weeks of gestation (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] 2.50, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.90-3.29, P < 0.001), have a pre-evacuation hCG level ≥100 000 iu/l (aOR 1.77, 95% CI 1.38-2.28, P < 0.001) and time to the initiation of chemotherapy ≥7 months (aOR 1.86, 95% CI 1.01-3.43, P = 0.047) when compared with 2015-2019., Conclusions: Although the incidence of MP/postmolar GTN remained stable during the COVID-19 pandemic in Brazil, the pandemic was associated with greater gestational age at MP diagnosis and more protracted delays in initiation of chemotherapy for postmolar GTN., (© 2022 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

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 I 2 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; I 2 =73%), 3.30% of malformation (95% confidence interval, 2.27-4.79; I 2 =31%), 6.19% of prematurity (95% confidence interval, 5.03-7.59; I 2 =0), and 1.73% of stillbirth (95% confidence interval, 1.17-2.55; I 2 =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, I 2 =31%), prematurity (P=.46, I 2 =0), and stillbirth (P=.66, I 2 =0). However, there was a higher occurrence of spontaneous abortion (P<.01, I 2 =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., (Copyright © 2021 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Objective: To investigate GTN lethality among Brazilian women comparing cases of death by GTN with those who survived, thereby identifying factors associated with GTN lethality., Methods: We retrospectively reviewed medical records of women with GTN treated at ten Brazilian GTN Reference Centers, from January 1960 to December 2017. We evaluated factors associated with death from GTN and used Cox proportional hazards regression models to identify independent variables with significant influence on the risk of death., Results: From 2186 patients with GTN included in this study, 2092 (95.7%) survived and 89 (4%) died due to GTN. When analyzing the relative risk (RR), adjusted for WHO/FIGO score, patients with low risk disease had a significantly higher risk of death if they had choriocarcinoma (RR: 12.40), metastatic disease (RR: 12.57), chemoresistance (RR: 3.18) or initial treatment outside the Reference Center (RR: 12.22). In relation to patients with high-risk GTN, these factors were significantly associated with death due to GTN: the time between the end of antecedent pregnancy and the initiation of chemotherapy (RR: 4.10), metastatic disease (RR: 14.66), especially in brain (RR: 8.73) and liver (RR: 5.76); absence of chemotherapy or initial treatment with single agent chemotherapy (RR: 10.58 and RR: 1.81, respectively), chemoresistance (RR: 3.20) and the initial treatment outside the Reference Center (RR: 28.30)., Conclusion: The risk of mortality from low and high-risk GTN can be reduced by referral of these patients to a Reference Center or, if not possible, to involve clinicians in a Reference Center with consultation regarding management., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare no conflict of interests., (Copyright © 2020 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Background: The term gestational trophoblastic disease (GTD) includes both complete and partial moles, which are uncommon nonviable pregnancies with the potential to evolve into a malignancy known as gestational trophoblastic neoplasia. While highly curable, the potential for malignancy associated with molar pregnancies worries the patients, leading them to seek information on the internet. A Facebook page headed by Brazilian specialized physicians in GTD was created in 2013 to provide online support for GTD patients., Objective: The objective of our study was to describe the netnography of Brazilian patients with GTD on Facebook (FBGTD) and to evaluate whether their experiences differed depending on whether they received care in a Brazilian gestational trophoblastic disease reference center (BRC) or elsewhere., Methods: This was a cross-sectional study using G Suite Google Platform. The members of FBGTD were invited to participate in a survey from March 6 to October 5, 2017, and a netnographic analysis of interactions among the members was performed., Results: The survey was answered by 356 Brazilian GTD patients: 176 reference center patients (RCP) treated at a BRC and 180 nonreference center patients (NRCP) treated elsewhere. On comparing the groups, we found that RCP felt safer and more confident at the time of diagnosis of GTD (P=.001). RCP were more likely to utilize FBGTD subsequent to a referral by health assistants (P<.001), whereas NRCP more commonly discovered FBGTD through Web searches (P<.001). NRCP had higher educational levels (P=.009) and were more commonly on FBGTD for ≥ 6 months (P=.03). NRCP were more likely to report that doctors did not adequately explain GTD at diagnosis (P=.007), had more doubts about GTD treatment (P=.01), and were less likely to use hormonal contraception (P<.001). Overall, 89% (317/356) patients accessed the internet preferentially from home and using mobile phones, and 98% (349/354) patients declared that they felt safe reading the recommendations posted by FBGTD physicians., Conclusions: This netnographic analysis of GTD patients on FBGTD shows that an Web-based doctor-patient relationship can supplement the care for women with GTD. This resource is particularly valuable for women being cared for outside of established reference centers., (©Marisa Victoria Diniz, Sue Y Sun, Claudia Barsottini, Mauricio Viggiano, Roney C Signorini Filho, Bruna Sanches Ozane Pimenta, Kevin M Elias, Neil S Horowitz, Antonio Braga, Ross S Berkowitz. Originally published in the Journal of Medical Internet Research (http://www.jmir.org), 24.09.2018.)

Objective: To evaluate whether a human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) level ≥20,000 IU/L four weeks after uterine evacuation for complete hydatidiform mole (CHM) is an appropriate indicator for initiating chemotherapy for the treatment of gestational trophoblastic neoplasia (GTN)., Study Design: Historical database review of 1228 women with CHM who received treatment and follow-up between January 2000 and June 2013 at four Brazilian trophoblastic disease centers. The primary outcome measure was the progression from CHM to GTN. The secondary outcomes were the occurrence of uterine perforation, staging of GTN, WHO/FIGO risk score, and treatment (use of single- or multiagent chemotherapy)., Results: An hCG level ≥20,000 IU/L four weeks after uterine evacuation for CHM, while occurring in only 6.1% of women, was the most important risk factor for the development of postmolar GTN (adjusted RR = 5.83; p < 0.01; CI: 3.47-9.79), with a sensitivity of 36.8%, a specificity of 98.6%, a positive predictive value of 80%, and a negative predictive value of 91.1%. On the other hand, there were no differences in postmolar GTN stage, prognostic score, or need for multiagent chemotherapy relative to hCG level ≥20,000 IU/L versus <20,000 IU/L., Conclusions: Although hCG level ≥20,000 IU/L four weeks after uterine evacuation for CHM was very predictive of development of post-molar GTN, delay in treatment until hCG plateau or increase did not affect outcomes, with no uterine perforations or treatment failures., (Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Objective: To evaluate expectant management versus immediate chemotherapy following pathological diagnosis of gestational choriocarcinoma (GCC) in patients with nonmetastatic disease., Methods: Multicenter retrospective cohort that included patients with histological diagnosis of GCC with nonmetastatic disease followed at one of thirteen Brazilian referral centers for gestational trophoblastic disease from January 2000 to December 2016., Results: Among 3191 patients with gestational trophoblastic neoplasia, 199 patients with nonmetastatic GCC were identified. Chemotherapy was initiated immediately in 152 (76.4%) patients per FIGO 2000 guideline, while 47 (23.6%) were managed expectantly. Both groups presented with similar characteristics and outcomes. All patients (n=12) who had normal human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) in the first 2-3weeks of expectant management achieved complete sustained remission with no chemotherapy. Only 44.7% (21 patients) of patients who were expectantly managed needed to receive chemotherapy due to plateauing or rising hCG level in the first 2-3weeks of follow up. The outcome of patients receiving chemotherapy after initial expectant management was similar to those who received chemotherapy immediately after the diagnosis in terms of need for multi-agent chemotherapy or number of cycles of chemotherapy. There was no case of relapse or death in either group. Logistic regression analysis showed that age≥40years and hCG≥92,428IU/L at GCC diagnosis were risk factors for needing chemotherapy after initial expectant management of nonmetastatic GCC., Conclusion: In order to avoid exposing patients unnecessarily to chemotherapy, close surveillance of women with pathological diagnosis of nonmetastatic GCC seems to be a safe practice, particularly for those who have a normal hCG at the time of diagnosis. If confirmed by other studies, the FIGO guidelines may need to be revised., (Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Objective: To report on the Brazilian Association of Gestational Trophoblastic Disease's (GTD) formation of a network of regional care at specialized centers for women with GTD., Study Design: We developed a questionnaire composed of 15 questions, which was sent by email to the 38 Brazilian GTD Reference Center (BGTDRC) Directors who are members of the Brazilian Association of GTD, in order to characterize the professionals involved in the care of patients with GTD and the type of assistance provided., Results: The Directors of the BGTDRCs are usually specialists in Gynecology and Obstetrics (97%), with a median experience of a decade in treating women with GTD. The BGTDRCs are linked to university hospitals in 75% of centers and provide completely free medical care in 87%. However, 52% of centers do not perform chemotherapy in their reference center, and patients are referred elsewhere for chemotherapy. Despite some difficulties, the rate of patients lost to follow-up before human chorionic gonadotropin remission is 9%, and the GTD mortality rate is 0.9%., Conclusion: Due to large regional disparities, the BGTDRCs are not uniformly organized. However, under the coordination of the Brazilian Association of GTD there is now strong communication and collaboration among reference centers, which has significantly advanced both patient care and research into the management of these diseases.

Objective: To evaluate treatment of Brazilian patients with gestational trophoblastic disease (GTD)., Study Design: A retrospective cohort study with analysis of medical reports performed in 10 Brazilian referral centers from January 2000 to December 2011., Results: Of 5,250 patients 3 died (0.06%) at the time of uterine evacuation. Spontaneous remission of GTD (group G1) was observed in 4,103 cases, and 1,144 (21.8%) progressed to gestational trophoblastic neoplasia (GTN) (G2). In G1 2,716 (66.2%) had complete hydatidiform mole (HM) and 1,210, partial HM (29.5%); 3,772 patients (92.7%) recovered as noted in December 2012. In G2, of 1,118 patients treated, initial histopathological results of previous gestation were complete HM (77.5% [n = 886]), partial HM (8.8% [n = 100]), and choriocarcinoma (8.0% [n = 92]); 930 (81.3%) were low-risk, 200 (17.5%) were high-risk GTN, and 14 had placental site trophoblastic tumor (PSTT) (1.2%); cure was achieved in 1,078 cases (96.4%), but 26 patients (2.3%) died (4 low-risk [0.4%], 19 high-risk [9.5%], and 3 PSTT [21.4%])., Conclusion: The highest death rates were due to high-risk GTN and PSTT. Patients with molar pregnancy should be referred to a referral center for an early diagnosis and prompt treatment of GTN in order to reduce the morbidity and mortality found in advanced stages.