title: The concomitant determination of different tumor markers in patients with epithelial ovarian cancer and benign ovarian masses: relevance for differential diagnosis.
abstract: The serum levels of CA 125 (cutoff limit, 65 U/ml), CA19.9 (cutoff, 40 U/ml), CA 15.3 (cutoff, 32 U/ml), CA72.4 (cutoff, 3.8 U/ml), and TATI (cutoff, 22 ng/ml) were preoperatively measured in 90 patients with epithelial ovarian cancer and in 254 patients with benign ovarian pathology. CA125 had a sensitivity of 75.6%, a specificity of 86.6%, and a diagnostic accuracy of 83.7% for epithelial ovarian cancer; CA19.9 had a sensitivity of 35.6%, a specificity of 81.1%, and a diagnostic accuracy of 69.2%; CA15.3 had a sensitivity of 57.1%, a specificity of 93.9%, and a diagnostic accuracy of 84.6%; CA72.4 had a sensitivity of 70.7%, a specificity of 91.8%, and a diagnostic accuracy of 86.2%; and TATI had a sensitivity of 47.3%, a specificity of 95.3%, and a diagnostic accuracy of 82.9%. CA 125 was the most sensitive marker for nonmucinous tumors, while CA19.9 and CA72.4 were the antigens more frequently expressed by mucinous malignancies. The sensitivities of serum CA 125 (81.1% vs 50.0%; P = 0.01) and TATI (55.2% vs 18.8%; P = 0.02) were higher in patients above 50 years of age than in younger patients while specificities were quite similar in both age groups. The association of serum CA125 and CA19.9 had a significantly higher sensitivity (93.2% vs 81.1%; P = 0.03) and a slightly lowered specificity (78.9% vs 86.0%; P = 0.46) than CA125 assay alone in the differential diagnosis of ovarian masses in patients above 50 years of age.
authors.affiliation: Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics, University of Pisa, Italy.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Gadducci
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ferdeghini
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Prontera
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Moretti
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Mariani
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Bianchi
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Fioretti
mesh_terms: D000230:Adenocarcinoma / Q000097:blood / Q000175:diagnosis; D002288:Adenocarcinoma, Mucinous / Q000097:blood / Q000175:diagnosis; D015295:Antigens, Tumor-Associated, Carbohydrate / Q000097:blood; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000097:blood*; D002277:Carcinoma / Q000097:blood / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000276:immunology; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D010051:Ovarian Neoplasms / Q000097:blood / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000276:immunology; D014359:Trypsin Inhibitor, Kazal Pancreatic / Q000097:blood
chemical_list: D015295:Antigens, Tumor-Associated, Carbohydrate; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; D014359:Trypsin Inhibitor, Kazal Pancreatic