Rare disease waits to strike

CANCEROUS gestational trophoblastic disease (GTD) occurs in one in 50,000 pregnancies.

Cells which form the placenta as a baby grows can mutate into clusters, similar to bunches of grapes, or a tumour.

Another type of GTD can strike several months or even years after a woman’s pregnancy, growing into the muscle layer of the womb.

Nearly all types of cancerous GTD, which can also be non-cancerous, are curable with chemotherapy.

But an overgrowth of the placenta, if left untreated, can bury itself into the organs around it, including the womb, and spread through the blood to organs such as the lungs, liver and brain.