Serum CA 125 levels and lymph node metastasis in patients with endometrial cancer

The aim of this study was to evaluate the correlation of preoperative serum CA 125 levels and lymph node metastasis in patients with endometrial cancer. Preoperative levels of serum CA 125 were determined in 64 patients with endometrial cancer treated with total abdominal hysterectomy with a lymph node dissection as initial therapy. Lymph node status, determined by histopathology, was correlated with both normal and elevated CA 125 levels, determined preoperatively. A serum CA 125 level of >30 IU/ml was considered elevated. There were five patients (7.8%) with pelvic or paraaortic lymph node metastases and 59 patients (92.2%) without nodal metastases. In all five patients with lymph node metastases, serum CA 125 was within normal limits. Preoperative serum CA 125 levels were above normal in eight lymph node-negative patients. In the remaining group of 51 node-negative patients, serum CA 125 levels were within normal limits. Among the five lymph node-positive patients, four had endometrioid and one had serous papillary cancer. One patient had histologic grade 2 tumor and four patients had histologic grade 3. Preoperative serum CA 125 levels do not offer any information for predicting lymph node metastasis in patients with endometrial cancer.