The Prognostic Significance of Serum CA 125 Levels in Patients with Advanced Serous Epithelial Ovarian Cancer

Lee, Ji Soo; Kim, Ji Un; Moon, Sung O; Choi, Joong Sub; Lee, Sun Joo; Lee, Jeong Won; Park, Chang Soo; Kim, Byoung Gie; Lee, Je Ho; Bae, Duk Soo

Abstract

OBJECTIVE
In this retrospective study, we analyzed the clinicopathologic characteristics of advanced serous epithelial ovarian cancer and evaluated the prognostic factors which have an impact on survival of patients with epithelial ovarian cancer. We also compared several analyzing methods of CA 125 for predicting prognosis of advanced serous epithelial ovarian cancer.
METHODS
A total of 57 patients with advanced serous epithelial ovarian cancer who were treated at Samsung Medical Center between Aug. 1995 and Jul. 2000 were included. Medical records including pathologic reports were reviewed to identify clinicopathologic characteristics and serum levels of CA 125. Five different methods of analyzing serum CA 125 were compared for predicting the prognosis of advanced serous epithelial ovarian cancer. Survival curves were analyzed by Kaplan-Meier method and Cox proportional hazards model.
RESULTS
The median age of all patients was 54.2 years. In univariate analysis, age, FIGO stage, grade, residual tumor and ascites showed no significant correlation with prognosis. Among five different analyzing methods of serum CA 125 levels, normalization after 3rd chemotherapy was correlated with improved 5-year survival rate (p=0.026).
CONCLUSION
This study showed that normalization of serum levels of CA 125 after 3rd chemotherapy is useful for predicting prognosis of advanced serous epithelial ovarian cancer patients.