What is invasive mole?

➢ Invasive moles are complete moles that are locally invasive but lack the metastatic potential of choriocarcinoma. ➢ An invasive mole retains hydropic villi, which penetrate the uterine wall deeply, possibly causing rupture and sometimes life-threatening hemorrhage. ➢ On microscopic examination, the epithelium of the villi shows atypical changes, with proliferation of both trophoblastic and syncytiotrophoblast components. ➢ Although the marked invasiveness of this lesion makes removal technically difficult, metastases do not occur. ➢ Hydropic villi may embolize to distant organs, such as lungs or brain, but these emboli do not behave like true metastases and may regress spontaneously. ➢ Because of deeper invasion into the myometrium, an invasive mole is difficult to remove completely by curettage, so if serum β-hCG remains elevated, further treatment is required. ➢ Fortunately, in most cases cure is possible with chemotherapy.