The concentrations of
human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) and its free immunoreactive alpha-subunit (
hCG-alpha) in the sera of patients with trophoblastic diseases were measured by hCG and
hCG-alpha radioimmunoassay (RIA), respectively. In the sera of 12 women with
hydatidiform mole large amounts of hCG and considerably high level of
hCG-alpha were detected in all cases. After the evacuation of mole the serum level of these
glycoproteins decreased, the leve of
hCG-alpha declined more rapidly than hcg. in the sera of patients with destructive mole the concentration of
hCG-alpha was usually lower than that of hCG. After
hysterectomy and
chemotherapy the levels of
hCG-alpha declined practically paralleling that of hCG. However, when hCG had decreased to undetectable level,
hCG-alpha could no longer be detected in all cases. Although in the serum of patient with
choriocarcinoma involving the uterus and lungs the concentration of
hCG-alpha was almost as high as that of hCG, the secretory pattern of hCG and
hCG-alpha might not be closely related. The changes in the serum level of free
hCG-alpha as well as that of hCG parelled the
clinical course of the patients examined in this study. The present results suggest that measurements of the serum free
hCG-alpha may be a useful parameter to follow the
clinical course and to evaluate the efficacy of treatments of trophoblastic diseases.