Elevation of CA 19‐9 and chromogranin A, in addition to CA 125, are detectable in benign tumors in leiomyomas and endometriosis

Abstract

As the best-known tumor marker for ovarian carcinoma, CA 125 has also been commonly used to monitor patients with common benign gynecologic diseases such as endometriosis and leiomyoma. Both of these benign tumors are known to be at risk of developing into cancer. During the screening of an asymptomatic population with multiple tumor markers, including alpha-fetoprotein (AFP), carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA), prostate-specific antigen (PSA), CA 125, CA 19-9, CA 15-3, chromogranin A (CgA), and squamous cell carcinoma antigen (SCC), we have detected elevated tumor markers in 142 individuals; 19 of them were diagnosed with endometriosis or leiomyoma or both. In addition to the detection of elevation of CA 125 in these benign tumors, elevated CA 19-9 or CgA was also found in these patients with endometriosis or leiomyoma. Many patients only had elevated CA 19-9 or CgA; the elevation of CA 125 was not detected. It appears that instead of monitoring only CA 125, as is traditionally done, multiple tumor markers, including CA 19-9, CgA, and CA 125, should be measured simultaneously in women with clinical disorders associated with the ovary or uterus in order to detect gynecologic benign tumors and in order to prevent further development of cancer.

Assessment of Tumor markers, C-reactive Protein, Cortisol and Total Plasma Peroxides Levels in Uterine Leiomyoma Patients

“…One of the main findings of the present study is that plasma level of CA125 increased significantly in leiomyoma patients. This study seems to corroborate the report of Tsao et al (2007) that demonstrated elevated levels of CA19.9 and CA125 in leiomyoma tissues. (Ghaemmaghami et al, 2007) also reported higher levels of CA125 in patients with other gynecologic diseases without malignant conditions.…”

Biomarkers in uterine leiomyoma

“…The CA125-positive rates (defined as >50 kIU/L) were 80%, 10%, and 5%, respectively. In a study of tumor markers, Tsao et al (48) found that 92% of women with leiomyomas demonstrated elevated tumor markers such as elevated CA125 or CA19-9 (>40 IU/mL).…”

Identifying biomarkers of endometriosis using serum protein fingerprinting and artificial neural networks

“…However, many women with stage I endometriosis have normal CA125 values whereas high serum CA125 values can be seen in women with other gynecologic diseases, including ovarian cancer [6][7][8][9][10], and thus CA125 does not have an adequate predictive value.…”