The value of serum CA_(125) assay in gynecological patients

Objective To evaluate the effects of serum CA 125 in the gynecological patients.Methods Serum CA 125 of 86 cases was determined with radioimmunoassay.The value of 35U/ml was taken as the upper limit.Results The levels of serum CA 125 were 214.54±168.29U/ml in patients with epithelial ovarian cancer,80.50±59.84U/ml in patients with endometriosis,21.05±8.65U/ml in patients with uterine myoma and 19.44±8.56U/ml in the patients with benign tumor of ovary.After successful cytoreductive surgery and chemotherapy for patients with epithelial ovarian cancer,the CA 125 value was significantly dropped (P0.001).Patients with endometriosis had serum CA 125 exceeding 35U/ml.In contrast,the patients with uterine myoma and benign tumor of ovary had serum CA 125 levels below 35U/ml.Conclusion In conjunction with other clinical data including symptoms and signs,serum CA 125 assay is of great help in diagnosis for patients with epithelial ovarian cancer and a useful marker for monitoring the response to the treatment.