Monitoring
Know the right treatment path.
5% to 10% of women in the
United States will have a suspected pelvic mass and undergo surgery in their lifetimes. Of these women, only 13% to 21% will have an ovarian cancer diagnosis.13
Although a single value of CA125™ lacks the specificity and sensitivity required for the early detection of ovarian cancer, greater specificity has been attained by measuring CA125 over time and by combining CA 125 with ultrasonography. Additionally, studies have shown that certain new laboratory tests, when combined with CA125, can improve the differentiation between benign and malignant disease. This may spare some women from needless anxiety and unnecessary surgery, as well as potentially identify women who should be treated by a gynecologic oncologist.
Women who display symptoms, abdominal bloating and/or a pelvic mass, and have a suspected malignancy should undergo ultrasound, abdominal CT, laboratory tests, and a physical exam. The CA 125 test is not recommended for use in diagnosing patients with suspected ovarian cancer, as there are other benign conditions that can affect the CA125 value.
Over time and following numerous trials investigating CA125, it has become evident that no known single biomarker or test will be sufficient to accurately predict ovarian cancer. Many tumor markers have been evaluated, but no individual marker has provided the sensitivity or specificity required to be useful in clinical practice.
A prospective study recently published in the journal, Gynecologic Oncology, found that women with elevated levels of a substance called HE4 in their blood might be more likely to have ovarian cancer.9 This is an encouraging find in the search for a way to better predict ovarian malignancy and differentiate between malignant and benign tumors. Read more about this study.
CA125 in Premenopausal and Postmenopausal Women
A woman’s menopausal status can affect the CA 125 value. Pregnancy and menstruation, conditions of premenopausal women, can elevate the result of the CA125 test when there is no malignancy present. However, CA125 alone lacks the sensitivity and specificity needed to predict accurately the presence of an ovarian malignancy.12
