The term gestational trophoblastic disease refers to a category of medical complications characterized by abnormal growth of placental type tissue. There are five types of gestational trophoblastic disease; two are benign and three are considered malignant.
The two benign types of gestational trophoblastic disease are complete hydatidiform moles and partial hydatidiform moles. These conditions usually resolve after treatment but require monitoring because they can develop into one of the three types of malignant gestational trophoblastic disease. Types of malignant gestational trophoblastic disease include choriocarcinoma, invasive moles, and placental site trophoblastic tumors (an incredibly rare condition in which a tumor develops at the site of the placenta). Invasive moles occur only after molar pregnancies, but choriocarcinoma and placental site tumors can theoretically occur after any type of pregnancy.
