Combined evaluation of some tumor associated antigens in the monitoring of integrated surgical and chemotherapeutic treatment of epithelial ovarian cancer

The authors measured the presurgical serum levels of some tumor associated antigens in 36 patients bearing primitive ovarian carcinoma and in 284 controls. Ca125, which has shown a sensitivity (SE) of 63.8% and a specificity (SP) of 92.6%, was elevated especially in serous and undifferentiated carcinomas, while Ca19-9 (SE = 33.3% and SP = 89.7%) and CEA (SE = 19.4% and SP = 96.4%) were more often pathological in mucinous ones. TPA (SE = 75.0% and SP = 81.3%) had no particular correlation with any histotype. Parallel assessment of Ca125 and Ca19-9 showed a SE = 83.3% and a SP = 83.8%. In patients with epithelial ovarian cancer, the circulating concentrations of tumor markers were periodically measured during and after chemotherapy. Ca125 levels correlated with the course of disease in 87.1% of instances, while Ca19-9 ones correlated in 72.2% and TPA ones in 78.6%. Constantly high concentrations of one or more markers during chemotherapy are indicative for unresponsiveness of cancer to cytostatic drugs. Serum levels of one or more tumor antigens elevated at diagnosis and in the normal range at the end of primary treatment can be associated both with a pathological complete regression and with a persistence of neoplastic disease at second look laparotomy. Considering the different sensitivity of every single marker in carcinomas of different histotype, the combined evaluation of multiple tumor associated antigens seems to offer the best information in the monitoring of epithelial ovarian cancer