DETECTING AND MONITORING TROPHOBLASTIC DISEASE - NEW PERSPECTIVES ON MEASURING HUMAN CHORIONIC-GONADOTROPIN LEVELS

The human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) molecules in trophoblastic dise ase serum and urine samples are more heterogeneous, or degraded, than those in pregnancy samples. HCG immunoassays, particularly some of the new multiantibody sandwich tests, are designed primarily for pregnanc y application and do not necessarily detect the degraded molecules fou nd in trophoblastic disease samples. This leads to erroneous results a nd possibly false diagnoses. Care is needed in choosing the hCG test f or monitoring trophoblastic disease.