CA-125 in women with endometriosis.

D E Pittaway, Donald E. Pittaway
Obstetrics and gynecology clinics of North America · 1989 · vol. 16(1) , pp. 237–52 · PMID:2664620 · W2401176178
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⚙ AI-generated summary by claude@2026-06, 2026-06-07 ⓘ

Serum CA-125 levels correlate with endometriosis severity and disease course, offering promise for monitoring treatment status in diagnosed patients, though prospective studies are needed to confirm clinical utility.

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Abstract

The serum CA-125 level is elevated in most women with endometriosis. Although tests are readily available to measure the marker, simple modifications of the present assays are required to improve and standardize the quality of the measurements. The serum test has low sensitivity and would not be appropriate for general screening purposes, but in clinical situations that have a relatively high prevalence of endometriosis, CA-125 determinations have acceptable sensitivities and very high specificities. The concentrations of CA-125 correlate with both the severity and the clinical course of the disease. In women with diagnosed endometriosis, use of serial CA-125 determinations to monitor the course of the disease shows much promise in early studies. The changes in the CA-125 levels can offer additional information to the clinician about the status of the endometriosis, but how much this information will assist in the management and improve the outcome of treatment must await the results of prospective studies.

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Condition tags

mesh:D004715endometriosis

MeSH descriptors

Antigens, Tumor-Associated, Carbohydrate Endometriosis Antigens, Tumor-Associated, Carbohydrate Endometriosis Female Humans

Citation neighborhood

Papers in the corpus that this work cites (lower rings, blue) and that cite this one (upper rings, green). Dot size scales with the paper's in-corpus citation count — bigger dot = more influential within the endo/adeno field. Click a dot to open that paper. [ expand to 2 hops ] — adds papers reached through this work's immediate citers/citees. Heavier; up to 60 extra dots.

References (49)

Cited by (16)

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