Purpose: The present study investigates the effects of serum CA-125 level and CA-125 tissue positivity on first-year recurrences in patients with stage III/IV epithelial ovarian tumors.
Methods: Of the 101 patients with EOC who had undergone systematic pelvic/para-aortic lymphadenectomy between January 2003 and December 2007 recurrence did not develop in patients with stage I/II EOC. Fifty-five patients with FIGO stage III/IV EOC were evaluated in terms of serum CA-125 level and CA-125 tissue positivity. Preoperative CA-125 levels, under 35 IU/l were considered normal. To determine the expression of CA-125 immunohistochemically, stainings exceeding 10% were considered as positive.
Results: The relationship between CA-125 values and recurrence was significant in stage III/IV patients (p = 0.041/p = 0.006). The relationship between CA-125 values and recurrence was significant in the patients with serous tumor, endometrioid tumor, clear cell tumor, and undifferentiated tumor (p = 0.034/p = 0.044/p = 0.039/p = 0.043 respectively, p < 0.05). It was insignificant in mucinous tumor (p = 0.667). The relationship between CA-125 tissue expression positivity and recurrence development was significant in stage III/IV patients (p = 0.041/p = 0.029). It was significantly correlated with recurrence in the patients with serous tumor, endometrioid tumor, clear cell tumor, mucinous tumor, and undifferentiated tumor (p = 0.034/p = 0.044/p = 0.047/p = 0.036/p = 0.043 respectively, p < 0.05).
Conclusion: We were able to show that serum CA-125 values and CA-125 tissue expression can be used as markers to predict the risk of early recurrence. Many factors play an important role in the prediction of early recurrences in advanced stage EOC.