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Getting the correct diagnosis and the most appropriate treatment from the start is crucial

Your doctor will do a pelvic exam to examine your uterus. In addition, a simple blood test for a common hormone is most often used to diagnose GTD. Hydatidiform moles and other forms of GTD often release an extraordinary amount of the hormone human chorionic gonadotropin (HCG), which is produced in the early stages of pregnancy. Because tumors in GTD usually release far more HCG than normal placenta, a woman's HCG level is a useful indicator of this form of cancer. In women with GTD, blood HCG levels can reach or exceed 100,000 mIU/ml.

If very high levels of HCG are found, your doctor will usually perform an ultrasound (an imaging process that uses sound waves) to look for tumors and to support the diagnosis. In a normal pregnancy, an ultrasound would show a fetus developing in the uterus. In GTD, however, no fetus would be visible.

To determine whether the disease has spread beyond the uterus, your doctor may perform other imaging tests such as x-rays, computed tomography (CT) scanning, and/or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the chest, abdomen, pelvis, and brain.


Last Updated: Jul. 19, 2002
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