Preoperative evaluation of D-dimer and CA 125 levels in differentiating benign from malignant ovarian masses

Plasma levels of D-dimer (DD) and CA 125 were measured preoperatively in 121 patients with ovarian masses submitted to laparotomy. DD and CA 125 levels were higher in the 56 patients with epithelial ovarian cancer than in the 65 patients with benign ovarian disease (P < 0.0001). The logistic regression procedure showed that both DD assay (cutoff 416 ng/ml) and CA 125 assay (cutoff 65 U/ml) were significant predictive variables for malignancy (P = 0.0001). The concordance between predicted probabilities and observed responses was 75.7% for DD, 72.1% for CA 125, and 90.8% for Dd and CA 125. It is worth noting that DD was increased ( > 416 ng/ml) in 73% of FIGO stage I patients, whereas CA 125 was above 65 U/ml in only 33.3%. Sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, and negative predictive value of the tests in differentiating benign from malignant ovarian masses were as follows: 76.8, 93.8, 91.5, and 82.4%, respectively, for CA 125; 94.6, 76.9, 77.9, and 94.3%, respectively, for the combination CA 125 or DD; and 73.2, 100.0, 100.0, and 81.3%, respectively, for the combination CA 125 and DD. The combination CA 125 and DD seems to be a useful diagnostic tool to differentiate benign from malignant ovarian masses. Elevated preoperative levels of both antigens are invariably associated with a postsurgical diagnosis of epithelial ovarian cancer.