Diagnostic value of serum CA125, CA19-9 and CA15-3 in endometriosis: A meta-analysis

Airong Shen, Shengnan Xu, Yange Ma, Huanhuan Guo, Canyu Li, Chunli Yang, Shunhong Zou
The Journal of international medical research · 2015 · vol. 43(5) , pp. 599–609 · doi:10.1177/0300060515583076 · W1943484987
review OA: gold CC0 ⤵ 32 in-corpus citations
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⚙ AI-generated summary by claude@2026-06, 2026-06-08 ⓘ

This meta-analysis of 12 studies found that serum CA125 and CA19-9 concentrations are associated with endometriosis, suggesting their utility as noninvasive diagnostic biomarkers.

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Abstract

Aim To evaluate the diagnostic value of serum cancer antigen (CA)125, CA19-9 and CA15-3 concentrations in endometriosis. Methods Case–control studies evaluating CA125, CA19-9 and CA15-3 and endometriosis, published between January 2000 and November 2014 were retrieved from PubMed® and Google Scholar. Standardized mean differences (SMD) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) were calculated. Subgroup analyses were carried out by ethnicity and disease stage (early, stage I/II; advanced, stage III/IV). Results The analysis included 12 case–control studies (963 cases, 855 controls). CA125 was associated with endometriosis in the overall population (SMD 0.82, 95% CI 0.72, 0.92), Caucasian subgroup (SMD 1.08, 95% CI 0.96, 1.19), and early (SMD 1.20, 95% CI 0.93, 1.48) or advanced disease (SMD 1.29, 95% CI 1.04, 1.55). CA19-9 was associated with endometriosis in the overall population (SMD 0.48, 95% CI 0.24, 0.72), Caucasian subgroup (SMD 0.31, 95% CI 0.07, 0.55), Asian subgroup (SMD 9.65, 95% CI 7.88, 11.42) and advanced disease (SMD 0.60, 95% CI 0.34, 0.87). CA15-3 was significantly associated with advanced disease (SMD 0.47, 95% CI 0.09, 0.84). Conclusions Serum CA125 and CA19-9 may represent useful biomarkers for the noninvasive diagnosis of endometriosis.

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Condition tags

mesh:D004715endometriosis

MeSH descriptors

CA-125 Antigen CA-19-9 Antigen Endometriosis Mucin-1 Asian People CA-125 Antigen CA-19-9 Antigen Endometriosis Endometriosis Female Humans Mucin-1 White People

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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 (30)

Cited by (32)

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