Cure of Metastatic Choriocarcinoma of the Brain

Metastatic choriocarcinoma of the brain is a curable lesion. Success requires first a high index of suspicion that the patient may have a choriocarcinoma. These tumors develop in women of childbearing age and commonly produce signs and symptoms of subarachnoid hemorrhage, intracerebral hemorrhage, or brain tumor. Diagnosis can be established by radioactive scan of the brain, x-ray examinations of the chest, and bio-assay of the patient's urine and cerebrospinal fluid for chorionic gonadotropin. Cure is obtained by extirpation of the tumor, triple chemotherapy, and irradiation of the site of the cerebral metastasis. This communication reports three cases of metastatic choriocarcinoma of the brain in women who have been successfully treated, and one unsuccessful case in a man with metastatic testicular choriocarcinoma.