Symptoms

Women with a GTT may experience the following symptoms. Sometimes, women with a GTT do not show any of these symptoms. Or, these symptoms may be caused by a medical condition that is not cancer. If you are concerned about a symptom on this list, please talk with your doctor.

A GTT may not cause any symptoms in its early stage because it may resemble a normal pregnancy. However, the following symptoms could signal a potential problem:

• Vaginal bleeding
  
  
• A pregnancy where the baby has not moved at the expected time
  
  
• A larger than expected uterine size
  
  
• Pregnancy-associated high blood pressure at an early point in the pregnancy

Choriocarcinoma or a placental site trophoblastic tumor may cause a wide variety of symptoms, including vaginal bleeding after a seemingly normal delivery. Symptoms may appear after a normal birth weeks, months, or even years in rare situations.

Rarely, the diagnosis of a GTT is made when the cancer spreads to other organs, causing specific symptoms depending on the location. In this case, another disease may first be thought to cause the symptoms, as a diagnosis of GTT may not be obvious. For example, spread of choriocarcinoma to the brain may result in bleeding, which can be mistaken for a brain aneurysm. A beta human chorionic gonadotropin (beta hCG) blood test (see Diagnosis) should help to clarify the diagnosis.