title: CA-125 monitoring in the management of ovarian cancer.
abstract: In 100 ovarian cancer patients serum CA-125 was monitored during treatment and follow-up to verify the prognostic value of its pre-surgery marker level and the usefulness of the test for disease monitoring. A low pre-operative CA-125 was not associated with improved survival or progression-free survival. A significant survival advantage was evident for patients in whom the marker had decreased during treatment, compared to patients in whom the antigen remained unchanged or increased. In 40 patients CA-125 was measured before second look laparotomy: the marker was negative in 100% of patients in, pathological complete response and in 53.5% of patients with residual disease at second look. A marker increase was evident in 32 of 41 patients with either progressive or recurrent disease, and in 17 patients the CA-125 increase was documented from 1 to 9 months before clinical evidence of progression. The pre-operative level of CA-125 did not appear to be of prognostic value. However, the monitoring of CA-125 during treatment and follow-up can provide a reliable method of assessing response and prognosis. CA-125 monitoring is particularly useful for early detection of recurrence.
authors.affiliation: Dept. of Medical Oncology, Istituto Nazionale per Ricerca sul Cancro, Genova, Italy.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Bruzzone
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Onetto
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Campora
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Chiara
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Oliva
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Guido
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Merlini
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Parodi
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Bentivoglio
authors.forename: W
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Ventrella
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D015295:Antigens, Tumor-Associated, Carbohydrate / Q000032:analysis*; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D015166:Monitoring, Immunologic / Q000379:methods*; D010051:Ovarian Neoplasms / Q000276:immunology* / Q000401:mortality / Q000628:therapy; D015996:Survival Rate
chemical_list: D015295:Antigens, Tumor-Associated, Carbohydrate