A Case of Refractory Choriocarcinoma that Showed Complete Remission with Paclitaxel

High-risk gestational choriocarcinoma in patients who have failed primary chemotherapy is known to have a very poor prognosis. About 25% of high-risk metastatic choriocarcinoma become refractory to EMACO (etoposide, methotrexate, actinomycin D, cyclophosphamide and vincristine) and fail to achieve a complete remission. Currently, there is no standard salvage chemotherapeutic regimen for EMACO refractory choriocarcinoma. Paclitaxel, a taxane analog extracted from the bark of the western yew, has shown antitumor activity in a variety of cancers. However, there has been few case reports that described the effectiveness of paclitaxel to choriocarcinoma. We describe a 41-year old woman with refractory choriocarcinoma, who demonstrated dramatic response to paclitaxel treatment with a brief review of literature.