Preoperative CA-125 Values as a Predictive Factor for the Postoperative Outcome in Primary Serous Ovarian Cancer

The purpose of the study was to examine the preoperative CA-125 values as a predictive factor for postoperative outcome in primary serous ovarian cancer (POC) for complete tumor resection (CTR) and evaluate the preoperative CA-125 levels with other vital clinical dynamics such as ascites, lymph node involvement, diffuse peritoneal carcinomatosis, grading and staging.

A cohort of 277 POC-patients aged 18-75 years, who had undergone primary cytoreductive surgery at the Department of Gynecology & Oncological Surgery, Charité, Campus Virchow Klinikum (CVK) between 2000 und 2009 was analyzed in correlation with the preoperative CA-125 values.

The median preoperative CA-125 value in high-grade serous POC patients was 636 U/ml (204- 2312 U/ml) compared to 284 U/ml (148.5-1,378 U/ml) in low-grade serous POC patients (p=0.016). For the survival analyses both the cut-off values 252 and 475 U/ml, with highest sum from sensitivity (79.1% and 65.9%, respectively) and specificity (41.9% and 55.1%, respectively), were used to compare the relationship between preoperative CA-125 levels and (CTR), progression-free (PFS) and overall survival (OS). There was no significant difference between PFS and OS in three different groups of patients (preoperative CA-125 levels <252 U/ml, CA 125 levels between 252-475 U/ml and >475 U/ml).

Preoperative CA-125 is a poor, but statistically significant predictive factor for CTR after PCS. Preoperative CA-125 can predict neither the progression-free nor overall survival for POC patients.