Objective Although most gestational trophoblastic neoplasias (GTN) are sensitive to chemotherapy, the treatment strategy of patients who achieve normal β-human chorionic gonadotropin (β-hCG) after the completion of treatment but with residual lung lesions is undefined, let alone whether residual lung lesions threaten GTN patients with acceptable recurrent risk factors.

Methods We observed 73 patients with stage III and stage IV GTN treated at the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Tongji Hospital between September 2007 and August 2016. Among these patients, 46 women confirmed to have residual lung lesions with normalized β-hCG titer levels at 6 weeks after the completion of treatment, and the other 27 were without residual lung lesions. Statistical analysis was used to compare the progression-free survival of these 73 patients.

Results The follow-up period of all 73 patients ranged from 6 to 115 months. Six women relapsed with GTN. There were no significant statistical differences (P > 0.05) between the progression-free survival of the patients with residual lung lesions and those without, even in the subgroup of patients with GTN with recurrent risk factors.

Conclusions After the achievement of normalized β-hCG by sufficient chemotherapy, residual lung lesions do not alter the prognosis of patients with GTN, even if the patients are with other recurrent risk factors.