Usefulness of CA19-9 versus CA125 for the diagnosis of endometriosis

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the clinical value of the serum CA19-9 level in comparison with the serum CA125 level for diagnosing and determining the severity of endometriosis. DESIGN: Retrospective study. SETTING: Department of Comprehensive Reproductive Medicine in a university hospital. PATIENT(S): One hundred one women with endometriosis and 22 without endometriosis participated in this study. INTERVENTION(S): Blood samples were collected before the operation (laparoscopy, oophrectomy, cystectomy, and/or hysterectomy), and tissue samples of ovarian chocolate cysts were collected during the operation. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE(S): The serum CA19-9 and CA125 levels and the localization of these antigens in ovarian chocolate cysts. RESULT(S): The mean serum CA19-9 levels in patients at all stages of endometriosis were significantly higher than those in patients without endometriosis, and serum CA19-9 levels significantly correlated with the Revised American Fertility Society classification scores. Intense staining of CA19-9 was observed in 15 of the 20 samples of ovarian chocolate cysts. CONCLUSION(S): CA19-9 is a useful marker for determining the severity of endometriosis.