Volume 28, Issue 1 (1-2014)                   Med J Islam Repub Iran 2014 | Back to browse issues page

XML Print


Download citation:
BibTeX | RIS | EndNote | Medlars | ProCite | Reference Manager | RefWorks
Send citation to:

Shahbazian N, Razi T, Razi S, Yazdanpanah L. Comparison of the efficacy of methotrexate and actinomycin D in the treatment of patients with stage I low risk gestational tro-phoblastic neoplasia (GTN). Med J Islam Repub Iran 2014; 28 (1) :483-488
URL: http://mjiri.iums.ac.ir/article-1-2360-en.html
Health Research Institute, Diabetes Research Center, Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences, Ahvaz, Iran. , Leila.yazdanpanah@gmail.com
Abstract:   (3904 Views)

  Background : Gestational trophoblastic neoplasia (GTN) refers to malignant lesions that arise from abnormal proliferation of placental trophoblast. Even in its metastatic forms GTN is curable with a cure rate of 90-100 %. Currently, methotrexate with or without folic acid, andactinomycin D is recommended for low risk GTN. The aim of this study is to compare the efficacy of methotrexate and actinomycin D as the first-line single chemotherapeutic agents for women with low-risk gestational trophoblastic neoplasia (LR-GTN).

  Methods: A total of 30 women with LR-GTN were randomized to receive a weekly pulsed dose of 40 mg/m (2) of methotrexate intramuscularly (n=15) or a pulsed intravenous bolus of 1.25 mg/m (2) of actinomycin D every 2 weeks (n=15). An additional cycle was administered as consolidation treatment following normalization of the serum level of beta-human chorionic gonadotropin (˂10 IU/L).

  Results: Complete remission was achieved in 53.3% of patients in the methotrexate group and 86.7% in the actinomycin D group (p˂0.04). The mean number of treatment cycles needed to achieve response was lower in the actinomycin D group (4.3 vs. 6.5). The mean duration from beginning of treatment till achieving complete remission was 9.6 weeks for the Act group and 13 weeks for the MTX group.

  Conclusion: Actinomycin D may be a better option than methotrexate as a first-line chemotherapy agent for patients with LR-GTN but larger multicenter randomized controlled trials should be conducted to establish the most appropriate regimen for these patients.

Full-Text [PDF 689 kb]   (1630 Downloads)    
Type of Study: Original Research | Subject: Gynecology & Obstetrics

Add your comments about this article : Your username or Email:
CAPTCHA

Send email to the article author


Rights and permissions
Creative Commons License This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.