ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND Despite the tendency to metastasize widely, Gestational Trophoblastic Neoplasia (GTN) is one of the most curable solid tumors with chemotherapy. CASE REPORT A 41-year-old female, G4P2A2, presented with a slowly growing lump on the left side of the scalp associated with a headache. The patient had intermittent, sharp left eye pain which radiated to the side of her face, photophobia, early morning blurring of vision, and nausea. Palpation over scalp lesion produced deep retro-orbital pain and pain was exacerbated with bending over. An ophthalmological evaluation was unremarkable. Ultrasonography (USG) of the left scalp showed an intramuscular mass superficial to the left frontal bone. During excision biopsy, the mass was found to be invading the frontal bone. Histopathology showed a metastatic trophoblastic tumor with mixed features of choriocarcinoma and placental site trophoblastic tumor. A pregnancy test was positive, the beta HCG level was elevated but USG did not show intrauterine pregnancy. CT head demonstrated an intracranial, dural-based mass that extended against the brain but did not breach the pial membrane. CT chest, abdomen, pelvis, and PET scan showed no evidence of metastatic disease. She was successfully treated with resection of the transcranial lesion followed by aggressive chemotherapy - Etoposide, Methotrexate, Actinomycin-D, Vincristine, and Cyclophosphamide. CONCLUSIONS This was an unusual case of GTN due to its primary presentation as skin metastasis, without any lung metastasis and no identifiable primary lesion. It is also very unusual to see a combination of choriocarcinoma and placental site trophoblastic tumor cells in the same tumor mass.