[Circulating serum STN antigen as a prognostic marker in epithelial ovarian cancer]

Circulating serum sialyl Tn (STN) antigen levels were measured in 89 patients with epithelial ovarian cancer. Survival at 5 years for patients with STN-negative (serum STN levels less than 50 U/ml) versus STN-positive tumors (serum STN levels greater than or equal to 50 U/ml) was 76.9% versus 10.8%, respectively (p less than 0.05). The overall survival probability was worse in patients with STN-positive sera. Percent progression-free survival at 5 years for patients with STN-negative versus STN-positive tumors was 51.9% versus 5.4%, respectively (p less than 0.05). The overall progression-free survival was shorter in patients with STN-positive sera. Multivariate regression analysis revealed that positive STN antigen level in sera is an independent predictor of poor prognosis in epithelial ovarian cancer.