DNA analysis in gestational trophoblastic disease

Objective: DNA analysis of different forms of gestational trophoblastic disease.

Methods: Retrospective clinical study. Methods: Slovak Center of Trophoblastic Disease, Bratislava, Slovak Republic. Methods: In the period of September 1993 to April 2003, eighty-nine cases of gestational trophoblastic disease were analysed. There were 22 cases of partial hydatidiform moles, 58 cases of complete hydatidiform mole, 5 cases of invasive mole and 4 cases of gestational choriocarcinomas. Southern hybridization and polymerase chain reaction were used for DNA analysis.

Results: From 22 analyzed cases of partial hydatidiform moles 19 (86.4%) were triploid and 3 (13.6%) diploid ones. There were 58 cases of complete hydatidiform mole and out of them 29 (50%) were homozygous, 28 (48.3%) heterozygous, and in one case (1.7%) both paternal and maternal genome was detected. In 8 cases of heterozygous and in one case of homozygous complete hydatidiform mole occurred a malignant transformation to gestational choriocarcinoma.

Conclusions: Molecular analysis can determine the nuclear DNA origin of complete hydatidiform mole and allow us to define the patients with higher risk of malignant transformation usually to gestational choriocarcinoma.