The prognostic value of the post-treatment serum CA 125 level in patients with advanced endometrial cancer

OBJECTIVES: The goal of this analysis was to assess the prognostic value of the post-treatment serum CA 125 level in each member of a group of advanced endometrial cancer (aEC) patients in comparison to other clinical and pathological parameters. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Records of 266 patients treated at the Maria Skłodowska-Curie Memorial Cancer Centre and Institute of Oncology, Cracow Branch between the years 2006 and 2018 were included in the study. Follow-up ranged from 1 to 138 months. Progression free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) were set as the endpoints. The tests chi-squared, Fisher, log-rank, Mann-Whitney, Kruskal-Wallis and Cox proportional hazard ratio were used for statistical analyses. RESULTS: In the analysed group, there was a significant association between an elevated serum CA 125 level following adjuvant treatment and shorter PFS and OS. After setting a cut-off value for CA 125 there was a statistically significant correlation between the marker and PFS and OS. Multivariate analysis indicated that the post-treatment serum CA 125 level is an independent prognostic factor of the course of aEC. CONCLUSIONS: The post-treatment serum CA 125 level correlates significantly with both PFS and OS in each patient with aEC. The marker is an independent prognostic factor in this group. A low post-treatment level of the marker is a strong indicator of good 5-year survival, with 82% of patients reaching 5-year OS.