Abstract
Objective: Monitoring of changes in the serum levels of HE4, CA 125, CEA and CA 19 -9 in ovarian cancer Design: Prospective study Material and Methods: In the period from June 2010 to December 2011 was in the Immunoanalytical laboratory, serum of 749 patients examined. These patients came from department of Gynecology.
Patients were divided into groups according to diagnosis. Serum levels HE4 and CA 125 were measured using the chemiluminescent Architect 1000 (Abbott, USA), CEA and CA 19-9 were measured using the chemiluminescent DxI 800 (Beckman Coulter, USA).
Results: HE4 and CA 125 reached higher levels in the group of patients with histologically confirmed ovarian cancer compared with all other groups of diagnoses (median HE4 conc. 281 pmol/l, median CA 125 conc. 249 IU/l). HE4 and CA125 were very low in patients with ovarian cancer in remission.
Border line ovarian tumors did not show a statistically significant increase , we observed in this study. Endometriosis did not increase the levels of tumor markers, which were used.
For differential diagnosis of benign and malignant ovarian tumors are HE4 and CA 125 suitable (both p- Value <0.0001). Changes in levels of CEA and CA 19-9 in this statistical comparison were not significant.
Conclusion: Serum levels of tumor markers HE4 and CA 125 were significantly increased (p-Value <0.0001) in the group of malignant ovarian tumors compared with benign ovarian tumors. They can be used as an useful tool for differential diagnosis of ovarian cancer.
Using for primary detection looks promising, but for the final conclusion will be necessary to handle a larger set of patients.Border line ovarian tumors show not an increase in serum tumor markers which were used. Tumor markers CEA and CA 19-9 did not show a statistically significant difference in serum levels in the group of malignant tumors, compared to other ovarian diagnoses.
For primary detection and differential diagnosis of ovarian cancer are not suitable.