title: Diagnostic value of plasma lysophosphatidic acid levels in ovarian cancer patients: A case-control study and updated meta-analysis.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  We investigated whether plasma levels of lysophosphatidic acid (LPA) could serve as a diagnostic indicator for assessing disease progression in ovarian cancer (OC) patients.
  
  
  METHODS
  In this study, we enrolled 98 patients with OC, 70 patients with benign ovarian tumors and 75 healthy controls. Plasma levels of LPA and cancer antigen 125 (CA-125) were measured in all study subjects. The diagnostic values of LPA and CA-125 plasma levels were evaluated and an updated meta-analysis was performed to examine the association between LPA plasma levels and OC progression. Statistical analyses were performed with SPSS 18.0 and R 3.1.0 software.
  
  
  RESULTS
  In our case-control study, OC patients showed significantly higher plasma LPA levels compared to patients with benign tumors and healthy controls (all P < 0.05). Plasma LPA levels exhibited higher diagnostic sensitivity (P = 0.008) and specificity (P = 0.042) in detecting OC, compared to an established marker, CA-125. Notably, the sensitivity for early stage OC was significantly higher for plasma LPA levels in comparison to CA-125 (P < 0.05). Consistent with this, the area under the receiver-operator curve was greater for LPA (0.899) in comparison to that for CA-125 (0.751). Further, meta-analysis showed that plasma LPA levels were significantly higher in OC patients compared to patients with benign tumors or healthy controls (all P < 0.05).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Plasma LPA levels are elevated in OC patients and correlate with disease progression. Further, LPA shows higher sensitivity and specificity in OC diagnosis, compared to CA-125, especially in early stage OC.
authors.affiliation: Radiation Oncology Division, The First Hospital of Qin Huang Dao City, Qin Huang Dao, China.
authors.forename: Liyan
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Cao
authors.affiliation: Radiation Oncology Division, The First Hospital of Qin Huang Dao City, Qin Huang Dao, China.
authors.forename: Yunjie
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Radiation Oncology Division, The First Hospital of Qin Huang Dao City, Qin Huang Dao, China.
authors.forename: Zhanzhao
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Fu
authors.affiliation: Radiation Oncology Division, The First Hospital of Qin Huang Dao City, Qin Huang Dao, China.
authors.forename: Lixin
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Dong
authors.affiliation: Radiation Oncology Division, The First Hospital of Qin Huang Dao City, Qin Huang Dao, China.
authors.forename: Sen
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: Department of Oncology, The First Affiliated Hospital, Hebei North University, Zhangjiakou, China.
authors.forename: Wei
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Meng
authors.affiliation: Radiation Oncology Division, The First Hospital of Qin Huang Dao City, Qin Huang Dao, China.
authors.forename: Yiyang
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Radiation Oncology Division, The First Hospital of Qin Huang Dao City, Qin Huang Dao, China.
authors.forename: Wenchao
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Radiation Oncology Division, The First Hospital of Qin Huang Dao City, Qin Huang Dao, China.
authors.forename: Jialing
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Radiation Oncology Division, The First Hospital of Qin Huang Dao City, Qin Huang Dao, China.
authors.forename: Changjun
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Zheng
authors.affiliation: Radiation Oncology Division, The First Hospital of Qin Huang Dao City, Qin Huang Dao, China.
authors.forename: He
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Zhu
authors.affiliation: Radiation Oncology Division, The First Hospital of Qin Huang Dao City, Qin Huang Dao, China.
authors.forename: Limei
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Fan
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D018394:CA-125 Antigen / Q000097:blood; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008246:Lysophospholipids / Q000097:blood*; D008875:Middle Aged; D010051:Ovarian Neoplasms / Q000097:blood / Q000175:diagnosis*; D012372:ROC Curve
chemical_list: D018394:CA-125 Antigen; D008246:Lysophospholipids; C032881:lysophosphatidic acid
keywords: bioactive phospholipid; differential diagnosis; lysophosphatidic acid; ovarian cancer; sensitivity and specificity