Molar pregnancy and risk for cancer in women and their male partners.

OBJECTIVE

It was our aim to evaluate the hypothesis that molar pregnancy is a marker of increased risk for cancer.

STUDY

DESIGN

This was a nationwide cohort study of 1520 women, identified from the Danish National Register of Patients, in whom a molar pregnancy was diagnosed during the period 1977-1992 and of 1295 male partners of these women, traced in the Danish Central Population Register.

RESULTS

Linkage of the female roster with the Danish Cancer Registry through 1994 revealed 19 cases of gestational choriocarcinoma, whereas 0.04 was expected from the rates for the general population. Twenty cases of cancers of other types were observed with 24.9 expected (standardized incidence ratio, 0.8; 95% confidence interval, 0.5-1.2), but no specific type of cancer other than gestational choriocarcinoma occurred at a rate significantly different from that expected. Among the 1295 male partners notified in the Central Population Register, a total of 22 cancers were observed with 21.9 expected (standardized incidence ratio, 1.0; 95% confidence interval, 0.7-1.5).

CONCLUSION

Molar pregnancy is not associated with an increased risk for cancer other than gestational carcinoma.