{"paper_id":"13eb891a-3e5e-4bea-9bb7-b2f9ce5ff6f8","body_text":"Abstract\nThe levels of the oncofetal antigens CA-125, CA 19-9 and CA 15-3 were measured in serum samples taken from 8 women, aged 21 to 37 yr, before treatment, during the last fifteen days of a 6-month administration of danazol and finally three months after treatment withdrawal. The purpose of the study was to investigate: i) whether endometriosis belongs to the pathologic conditions which induce a concomitant increase in the values of CA-125, CA 19-9 and CA 15-3, and ii) the effect of danazol on the levels of these antigens. Our results indicate that before danazol treatment, three women showed pathologic levels of all three antigens, one of CA 19-9 and CA 15-3, one of CA 19-9 alone, and two of CA 15-3 alone. Administration of the drug significantly reduced the levels of CA-125 (p < 0.001) and CA 19-9 (p < 0.05) and to a lesser degree the levels of CA 15-3. Three months after danazol treatment discontinuation, the levels of these three antigens remained significantly lower (p< 0.05) than the respective pretreatment values. Our findings substantiate the view that endometriosis must be classified with the pathologic conditions which induce a rise in the levels of all three antigens, and that ovarian function mainly influences the levels of CA-125 and CA 19-9.\nSimilar content being viewed by others\nReferences\nBast R.C., Klug T.L., John E., Jenison E., Niloff J.M., Lazarus H., Berkowitz R.S., Leavitt T., Griffiths C.T., Parker L., Zurawski V.R., Knapp R.C. A radioimmunoassay using a monoclonal antibody to monitor the course of epithelial ovarian cancer. N. Engl. J. Med. 300: 883, 1983.\nMagnani L.J., Steplewski Z., Koprowski H., Ginsburg V. Identification of the gastrointestinal and pancreatic cancer-associated antigen detected by monoclonal antibody 19-9 in the sera of patients as a mucin. Cancer Res. 43: 5489, 1983.\nColomer R., Sole L.A., Navaro M., Encabo C., Ruibal A., Salvador L. CA 15-3: early results of a new breast cancer marker. Anticancer Res. 6: 683, 1986.\nBarbieri R.L., Niloff J.M., Bast R.C., Schaetzl E., Kistner R.W., Knapp R.C. Elevated serum concentrations of CA-125 in patients with advanced endometriosis. Fertil. Steril. 45: 630, 1986.\nPatton P.E., Field C.S., Harms R.W., Coulan C.B. CA-125 levels in endometriosis. Fertil. Steril. 45: 630, 1986.\nBarbieri R.L. CA-125 in patients with endometriosis. Fertil. Steril. 45: 767, 1986.\nOzasa H., Noda Y., Mori T. Progesterone increases serum CA-125 in endometriosis. Fertil. Steril. 47: 699, 1987.\nBast R.C., Klug T.L., Schaetzl E., Lavin P., Niloff J.M., Greber T.F., Zurawski V.R., Knapp R.C. Monitoring human ovarian carcinoma with a combination of CA-125, CA 19-9, and carcinoembryonic antigen. Am. J. Obstet. Gynecol. 149: 553, 1984.\nRuibal A., Encabo G., Genolla J., Guarda A., Urrutia A., Colomer R. Serum CA 15-3 levels in patients with general pathology and malignant diseases (excluding breast cancer). Bull Cancer. (Paris) 73: 94, 1986.\nAmerican Fertility Society. Revised American Fertility Society. Classification of Endometriosis. Fertil. Steril. 43: 351, 1985.\nPittaway D.E., Fayez J.A. The use of CA-125 in the diagnosis and management of endometriosis. Fertil. Steril. 46: 790, 1986.\nGkidice L.C., Jacobs A., Pineda J., Bell C.E., Lippmann L. Serum levels of CA-125 in patients with endometriosis: a preliminary report. Fertil. Steril. 45: 876, 1986.\nDel Villano C.B., Brennan S., Brock P., Bucher C., Liu V., McClure M., Rake B., Space S., Westrick B., Schoemaker H., Zurawski V.R. Radioimmunometric assay for a monoclonal antibody-defined tumor marker, CA 19-9. Clin. Chem. 29: 549, 1983.\nHaga Y., Sakamoto K., Egami H., Yoshimura R., Akagi M. Evaluation of serum CA-125 values in heatlhy individuals and pregnant women. Am. J. Med. Sci. 292: 25, 1986.\nBagshave K.D. Cancer drug targeting. Clin. Radiol. 36: 545, 1985.\nEvers J.L. The second-lood laparoscopy for evaluation of the results of medical treatment of endometriosis should not be performed during ovarian suppression. Fertil. Steril. 47: 502, 1987.\nDmowski P.W., Gramilion CI. Endometriosis and infertility. Acta Obstet. Gynecol. Scand. (Suppl.) 123: 73, 1984.\nAuthor information\nAuthors and Affiliations\nRights and permissions\nAbout this article\nCite this article\nPanidis, D., Vlassis, G., Matalliotakis, J. et al. Serum levels of the oncofetal antigens CA-125, CA 19-9 and CA 15-3 in patients with endometriosis. J Endocrinol Invest 11, 801–804 (1988). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03350229\nReceived:\nAccepted:\nPublished:\nIssue date:\nDOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03350229","source_license":"CC0","license_restricted":false}