J Gynecol Oncol.  2010 Dec;21(4):248-254. 10.3802/jgo.2010.21.4.248.

Comparison of total plasma lysophosphatidic acid and serum CA-125 as a tumor marker in the diagnosis and follow-up of patients with epithelial ovarian cancer

• Bese T
• Barbaros M
• Baykara E
• Guralp O
• Cengiz S
• Demirkiran F
• Sanioglu C
• Arvas M

• KMID: 2173549
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.3802/jgo.2010.21.4.248

Abstract

OBJECTIVE
To evaluate the role of lysophosphatidic acid (LPA) as a tumor marker in diagnosis and follow-up of patients with epithelial ovarian cancer.
METHODS
Eighty-seven epithelial ovarian cancer patients, 74 benign ovarian tumor patients, and 50 healthy women were enrolled in the study. Twenty-nine of 87 epithelial ovarian cancer patients were followed up for 6 cycles of paclitaxel-carboplatin chemotherapy. CA-125 and total plasma LPA levels were measured preoperatively and before each chemotherapy cycle.
RESULTS
Preoperative total plasma LPA and serum CA-125 levels were significantly higher in patients with epithelial ovarian cancer compared to patients with benign ovarian tumors and healthy women. Cut-off value for LPA was determined as 1.3 micromol/L and sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value and negative predictive value were 95%, 92%, 95% and 92%, respectively. Mean total plasma LPA level of 29 patients who received chemotherapy was 7.21+/-6.63 micromol/L preoperatively and 6.84+/-6.34 micromol/L, 6.34+/-5.92 micromol/L, 6.14+/-5.79 micromol/L, 5.86+/-5.68 micromol/L, 5.23+/-5.11 micromol/L and 5.21+/-5.32 micromol/L in measurements held just before the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th chemotherapy cycles, respectively (ANOVA, p=0.832). Total plasma LPA levels decreased slightly with chemotherapy administration and there was a weak negative correlation (Spearman, rs=-0.151, p=0.034), compared to a significant negative correlation in CA-125 (Spearman, rs=-0.596, p<0.001).
CONCLUSION
LPA is a better biomarker for diagnosis of epithelial ovarian cancer compared to CA-125. However, measurement of total plasma LPA levels during chemotherapy administration have no superiority to the serum CA-125 levels.

Keyword

Lysophosphatidic acid; CA-125; Epithelial ovarian cancer; Follow-up; Chemotherapy; Tumor marker

MeSH Terms

Female
Follow-Up Studies
Humans
Lysophospholipids
Neoplasms, Glandular and Epithelial
Ovarian Neoplasms
Plasma
Sensitivity and Specificity
Lysophospholipids
Neoplasms, Glandular and Epithelial
Ovarian Neoplasms

Figure

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  Fig. 1 An example for representation of lysophosphatidic acid (LPA) by gas chromotography and mass spectrophotometry.

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  Fig. 2 Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve for lysophosphatidic acid (LPA) (The best cut-off value is 1.3 µmol/L).

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  Fig. 3 Change of the total plasma lysophosphatidic acid (LPA) levels during chemotherapy administration.

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  Fig. 4 Mean total plasma lysophosphatidic acid (LPA) values before each chemotherapy administration.

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  Fig. 5 Change of serum CA-125 levels during chemotherapy administration.

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  Fig. 6 Mean serum CA-125 values before each chemotherapy administration.

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