Can a preoperative CA 125 level be a criterion for full pelvic lymphadenectomy in surgical staging of endometrial cancer?

OBJECTIVE: The aim of the present study was to evaluate whether a preoperative serum level of CA 125 in patients with endometrial cancer can provide additional information in determining the extent of lymphadenectomy required in the surgical staging and which cutoff value is optimal in this respect. METHODS: CA 125 was measured in 124 patients diagnosed with endometrial carcinoma who underwent surgery at our institution between January 1995 and May 2000. Statistic analysis was performed using the Mann-Whitney U test and Kruskal-Wallis test to evaluate the association of preoperative CA 125 levels with various factors. The chi(2)/Fisher's exact test and a logistic regression model were employed to examine the effects of clinicopathological factors on serum CA 125 levels. Furthermore, a receiver operating characteristic curve was used to determine which cutoff value of the preoperative CA 125 was the optimal one. RESULTS: Univariate analyses showed that elevated CA 125 levels were significantly correlated with an advanced stage, larger tumor size, increasing depth of the myometrial invasion, cervical invasion, positive cytology, and lymph node metastases (P < 0.05). Multivariate analyses using a logistic regression model showed lymph node metastases had the most significant effect on the elevation of CA 125 levels. The ROC curve determined that the best cutoff value was 40 U/ml; the sensitivity and specificity for screening lymph node metastases were found to be 77.8 and 81.0%, respectively. CONCLUSION: Our data provide evidence indicating that a preoperative CA 125 level greater than 40 U/ml can be considered a criterion for full pelvic lymphadenectomy in the surgical staging of endometrial cancer.     

Preoperative Serum CA 125 Level as a Predictor for Metastasis and Survival in Endometrioid Endometrial Cancer

ObjectiveWe wished to determine the relationship between preoperative serum CA 125 levels and the risk of metastatic disease, recurrent disease, and death in women with endometrial cancer.MethodsWe reviewed the records of women with endometrial adenocarcinoma of all stages who underwent primary surgery. We abstracted multiple data variables, including demographic characteristics, serum CA 125 levels, postoperative histopathology results, progression-free survival, and overall survival rates.ResultsThe records of 97 women with endometrial carcinoma were analyzed. With a serum CA 125 cut-off level of 35 kU/L, the likelihood of disease-related death could be predicted with 70% sensitivity and 83% specificity; disease progression could be predicted with 60% sensitivity and 84% specificity; and lymph node metastasis could be predicted with 75% sensitivity and 84% specificity. There was a significant relationship between a serum CA 125 level ≥ 35 kU/L and depth of myometrial invasion, cervical stromal invasion, stage, frequency of recurrence, and disease-related death. Having deep myometrial invasion, cervical stromal involvement, positive peritoneal cytology, lymph node metastasis, disease recurrence, and disease-related death were each associated with significantly higher mean CA 125 levels. In women with serum CA 125 levels < 35 kU/L, fiveyear progression-free survival rates (88%) and overall survival rates (92%) were significantly better than in women with levels ≥ 35 kU/L (57% and 70%, respectively; P = 0.001 for both).ConclusionSerum CA 125 levels and extension of disease are highly correlated in women with endometrioid endometrial cancer, and elevated CA 125 levels predict a higher risk of disease recurrence and death.     

子宫内膜癌肌层浸润深度的评估

目的　探讨术前B超、术中肉眼观察、术后大体标本测量和血清CA12 5测定 ,对判断子宫内膜癌肌层浸润深度的价值。方法　采用术前B超、术中肉眼观察和术后大体标本测量对 13 3例手术病理分期Ⅰ期子宫内膜癌患者的肌层浸润深度的判断进行评估 ,并分析 91例 (79例为Ⅰ期 ,12例为同期的Ⅱ～Ⅳ期患者 )子宫内膜癌患者血清CA12 5水平与子宫内膜癌的关系。结果　术前B超判断子宫内膜癌肌层浸润和深肌层浸润的敏感性分别为 62 6%和 47 8% ,特异性分别为 67 7%和90 0 % ;术中肉眼观察判断子宫内膜癌肌层浸润和深肌层浸润的敏感性分别为 5 9 6%和 73 9% ,特异性分别为 76 5 %和 94 6% ;术后大体标本测量判断子宫内膜癌肌层浸润和深肌层浸润的敏感性分别为 70 0 %和 94 4% ,特异性分别 92 0 %和 97 7%。子宫内膜癌手术病理分期Ⅰ期患者血清CA12 5水平异常 (≥ 3 5kU/L)的发生率为 8% (6/79) ,Ⅱ～Ⅳ期患者的发生率为 5 8% (7/12 ) ,血清CA12 5水平异常的发生率与手术病理分期的期别有极显著相关性 (P <0 0 0 1) ,而与子宫内膜癌肌层浸润深度无显著相关性 (P >0 0 5 )。结论　术前B超、术中肉眼观察和术后大体标本测量对判断Ⅰ期子宫内膜癌肌层浸润深度有一定帮助 ,其中术后大体标本测量的准确性相对较好。血     

Valeur de la cytologie gynécologique et du taux de CA 125 pour la prévision de la maladie extra-utérine dans les cas de cancer de l’endomètre

ObjectiveTo determine the value of gynaecological cytology and CA 125 level in preoperatively predicting extrauterine malignancy in endometrial cancer.MethodsThis retrospective study evaluated 225 women with endometrial cancer that underwent surgery between January 1996 and January 2010 at the Centre hospitalier universitaire de Sherbrooke. CA 125 level, gynaecological cytology, and histopathological data were available for each patient. Statistical analyses relied on chi-square test and Fisher exact test, as well as on a multivariate logistical regression model.ResultsAt diagnosis, 163 patients (72.5%) presented with a stage 1 malignancy. A correlation between bad prognosis histopathological factors (grade 3, lymphovascular invasion and myometrial invasion ≥ 50%, lymph-node metastases at histology: clear cell, seropapillary and undifferentiated, P = 0.05) and the combination of an increased CA 125 level (≥ 35 U/mL) and an abnormal gynaecological cytology (glandular anomalies) was discovered. Moreover, an extrauterine malignancy is found in 69.4% of patients with an increased CA 125 level and an abnormal gynaecological cytology, compared to 19.6% of patients with normal results (P < 0.001). According to multivariate analyses of preoperative factors, the combination of these two tests is the most powerful predictor of extrauterine malignancy in endometrial cancer (OR 9.3; 95% CI 4.2 to 20.7). When both results are found to be preoperatively abnormal, final histopathology analysis will reveal the presence of an extrauterine malignancy in 49.1% to 83.2% of patients.ConclusionThe preoperative evaluation of women with endometrial cancer should include routine evaluation of CA 125 level and routine gynaecological cytology, since the combination of these two tests offers crucial data on the probability of a stage FIGO ≥ 2 illness, thus facilitating preoperative triage of high risk patients. A pelvic or para-aortic lymphadenectomy should be offered to patients with increased CA 125 level and abnormal gynaecological cytology by a competent professional.     

Value of preoperative serum CA125 in early-stage adenocarcinoma of the uterine cervix without pelvic lymph node metastasis

OBJECTIVE: This investigation attempted to clarify the value of preoperative serum CA125 in predicting histopathological prognostic factors for early-stage cervical adenocarcinoma without lymph node metastasis. METHODS: This study initially surveyed 163 patients with clinical stage Ib or IIa cervical adenocarcinoma treated with radical hysterectomy and pelvic lymphadenectomy. Of the 163 patients, 116 had preoperative serum CA125 levels, and 14 had pelvic lymph node metastasis. The investigation group comprised 102 lymph node-negative patients. RESULTS: A cutoff value of 26 U/ml was obtained after the discriminant function analysis for identifying patients with positive lymph vascular space invasion (LVSI) or depth of stromal invasion > or =2/3 thickness. Multivariate analysis revealed that among the preoperative clinicopathological variables, including age, tumor size, parametrial invasion, and CA125 level, raised CA125 most significantly influenced the assessment of the LVSI (P = 0.040) and depth of cervical stromal invasion (P = 0.002). CONCLUSIONS: In early-stage cervical adenocarcinoma with negative pelvic lymph node metastasis, preoperative serum CA125 levels at the cutoff value of 26 U/ml impacted the determination of the poor histopathological prognostic factors.     

Preoperative serum CA 125 level in the prediction of the stage of disease in endometrial carcinoma

Objective

To evaluate whether a preoperative serum CA-125 level in patients with endometrial carcinoma can provide additional information in determining the stage of disease, and which cutoff value is optimal in this respect.

Study design

Retrospective chart review of 147 women with pathologically proven endometrial carcinoma who were treated between January 1999 and May 2009. The associations of preoperative CA-125 levels with the tumor stage, histologic type and grade, and the lymph node positivity were examined. To determine the values of cutoff point levels for serum tumor marker CA-125, the levels of 20 IU/ml and 35 IU/ml were compared.

Results

High CA-125 levels significantly correlated with advanced stage and lymph node metastases. The ROC curve determined that the best cutoff value was 20 U/ml. The sensitivity and specificity of a CA-125 cutoff level of 20 U/ml were 75% and 69.51%, respectively, with a positive predictive value of 80.6% and negative predictive value of 84.9%.

Conclusion

The current study suggests that measurement of preoperative CA-125 is a clinically useful test in endometrial carcinoma patients. CA-125 appears to be a significant independent predictor of the advanced stage of the disease as well as lymph node metastases. The results complement a growing body of literature that supports the relationship between CA-125 level and stage of disease but more studies are needed to establish the appropriate cutoff level for serum CA-125 in this respect.     

Para-aortic lymph node metastasis in relation to serum CA 125 levels and nuclear grade in endometrial carcinoma

BACKGROUND: To investigate the relationship between preoperative serum CA 125 levels and para-aortic lymph node (PAN) metastasis as determined by systematic pelvic and para-aortic lymph node dissection in endometrial carcinoma. METHODS: This study included 180 patients (n = 55, premenopausal; n = 125, postmenopausal) with endometrial carcinoma treated by complete surgical staging. Cut-off values of preoperative serum CA 125 levels for PAN metastasis were determined by receiver characteristic curve (ROC) analysis. Logistic regression analysis was used to determine independent predictors for PAN metastasis. RESULTS: The median serum CA 125 levels of patients with PAN metastasis were significantly higher than the levels of those with no metastasis in both premenopausal and postmenopausal groups. Based on ROC analysis, we could determine four cut-off values (70 and 210 U/mL for premenopausal patients, 20 and 60 U/mL for postmenopausal patients) and categorize the serum CA 125 levels into low, moderate and high groups. By logistic regression analysis, the CA 125 level and nuclear grade were found to be significant predictors of PAN metastasis, respectively. Using this model, the patients were stratified into three risk groups. The probabilities of PAN metastasis for patients in the low-risk, intermediate-risk and high-risk groups were less than 2%, 2-25% and more than 50%, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Serum CA 125 levels and nuclear grade are important risk factors for PAN metastasis in endometrial carcinoma.     

Differential diagnosis of ovarian cancer, benign ovarian tumor and endometriosis by a combination assay of serum sialyl SSEA-1 antigen and CA125 levels

We used a combination assay of serum sialyl SSEA-1 antigen (SLX) and CA125 levels, and evaluated the clinical usefulness of this technique for a differential diagnosis of ovarian cancer, benign ovarian tumor and endometriosis. In 82 patients with ovarian tumors, the sera of 20 (64.5%) of 31 with ovarian cancer and 15 (48.4%) of the 31 with endometriosis (endometrial cyst) were positive for both SLX and CA125, but serum SLX level was 5 U/ml or less in these 14 SLX- and CA125-positive patients with endometriosis. The sera of 16 (80.0%) patients with benign ovarian tumor were negative for both tumor markers. The sera of 3 (9.7%) of 31 with ovarian cancer and the sera of 2 (6.5%) of 31 with endometriosis were negative for both markers. The diagnostic accuracy (true positive rate X true negative rate) of the combination assay for ovarian cancer was 49.0% when the cutoff value of the serum SLX was 38 U/ml but improved to 78.5% when the value was set at 50 U/ml. When the cutoff value of serum SLX was set at 50 U/ml and that of serum CA125 at 35 U/ml, 27 of 37 patients who were positive only for CA125 had endometriosis. From the above observations, a combination assay of serum SLX and CA125 is a promising method for the differential diagnosis of malignant and benign ovarian tumors. Our results also suggest that to improve the diagnostic accuracy, the cutoff value of the serum SLX level should be 50 U/ml for ovarian tumors alone.     

Preoperative CA 125 Tumour Marker in Endometrial Cancer: Correlation With Advanced Stage Disease

ObjectiveTo evaluate if a preoperative serum CA 125 level ≥ 35 kU/L in patients with endometrial cancer correlates with a surgical stage III or IV and poor histopathological prognostic factors.MethodsWe conducted a retrospective cohort study of 254 patients who underwent hysterectomy and full staging for endometrial cancer. Preoperative serum CA 125 was available for each patient as well as complete clinical and histopathological data. Chi-square, Fisher exact test, multivariate logistic regression, and receiver operating characteristic curve curves were used for statistical analysis.ResultsA total of 186 (73%) patients had stage I or II disease and 68 (27%) had stage III or IV disease. A statistically higher number of patients from the stage III or IV group had a serum CA 125 level > 35 kU/L (58%) compared with the stage I or II group (16%) (OR 7.44; P < 0.001). There was no correlation between serum CA 125 level and histological subtype. Patients with stage I or II disease and serum CA 125 ≥ 35 kU/L (46%) had significantly more frequent deep myometrial invasion (> 50%) than did those with serum CA 125 < 35 kU/L (18%) (OR 3.68; P = 0.006).ConclusionAssay of the preoperative serum CA 125 level is a very simple test to detect patients with more advanced stage endometrial adenocarcinoma. Its routine use could help triage high risk patients preoperatively.     

Preoperative CA 125 in endometrial cancer: is it useful?

OBJECTIVE: We sought to determine the clinical utility of preoperative CA 125 measurement in determining the need for lymphadenectomy in patients with endometrial carcinoma.Study Design: A prospective nonrandomized study was performed over a 2-year period. Patients referred with the diagnosis of endometrial carcinoma had CA 125 levels determined before surgical staging. Operative findings were then correlated with preoperative CA 125 values. Standard statistical calculations were used to determine sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, and false-positive and false-negative rates. The Student t test was used to determine differences between mean values. RESULTS: Either a CA 125 level of >20 U/mL or a grade 3 tumor or both of these correctly predicted 87% of patients requiring surgical staging. In patients with a preoperative diagnosis of stage I, grade 1 or 2 tumors, a CA 125 level of >20 U/mL correctly identified 75% (9/12) of patients requiring lymphadenectomy compared with only 50% (6/12) identified when a CA 125 level of >35 U/mL was used. Two of 16 low-risk patients with preoperative grade 1 tumors and CA 125 levels of <20 U/mL had occult extrauterine disease at surgery. CONCLUSION: Measurement of preoperative CA 125 is a clinically useful test in endometrial cancer. CA 125 levels of >35 U/mL strongly predicted extrauterine disease but lacked sensitivity in identifying patients needing staging. Either a CA 125 level of >20 U/mL or a grade 3 tumor or both of these correctly identified 75% to 87% of patients requiring lymphadenectomy. Until more data are collected, abdominal hysterectomy should be the procedure of choice for patients with grade 1 tumors and CA 125 levels of <20 U/mL.     

Use of preoperative serum CA-125 levels for prediction of lymph node metastasis and prognosis in endometrial cancer

BACKGROUND: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the predictive value of preoperative serum CA-125 levels in the assessment of disease extent and clinical outcome of endometrial cancer. METHOD: This retrospective study evaluated 92 women with pathologically proven endometrial carcinoma scheduled for treatment that had preoperative serum CA-125 levels between January 1999 and February 2006. The association of preoperative serum CA-125 with a variety of histopathologic factors was evaluated. Statistical analysis was performed using chi2/Fisher's exact test and a logistic regression. Survival was studied with the Kaplan-Meier method and Cox regression models. RESULTS: Elevated serum CA-125 levels were significantly correlated with advanced-stage disease (p<0.001), lymph node metastases (p<0.001), increased depth of myometrial invasion (p=0.001), and positive peritoneal cytology (p=0.026). Multivariate analyses using logistic regression showed that lymph node metastases had the most significant effect on the elevation of preoperative serum CA-125 levels (p=0.004). Patients with a serum CA-125 < or =28.5 U/ml had a significantly better five-year disease-free survival than those with an elevated level in this study: 85.6% versus 60.0% (p=0.004). CONCLUSIONS: The preoperative serum CA-125 level appears to be a significant independent predictor of lymph node metastasis and prognosis after surgical intervention. Therefore, preoperative serum CA-125 may be a useful tool, in the clinical setting, for optimal individualized patient management.     

Preevacuation Serum CA 125 in Complete Hydatidiform Mole

Studies on CA 125 in hydatidiform mole are limited. The objective of this study was to measure the preevacuation serum CA 125 level in patients with complete hydatidiform mole and to determine whether it could predict the later development of persistent trophoblastic disease. Preevacuation serum CA 125 levels were immunoradiometrically measured in 69 patients with histologically confirmed complete hydatidiform mole. The mean (range) serum CA 125 level was 63.7 (10.5–404.7) U/ml. Using 35 U/ml as the cutoff point, the elevated CA 125 levels were observed in 53.6% (37/69) of the patients. The mean serum CA 125 level of patients who later developed persistent trophoblastic disease was not significantly higher than that of those who had benign course (78.9 vs 52.6 U/ml,P> 0.05). In conclusion, the preevacuation serum CA 125 level was elevated in about half of patients with complete hydatidiform mole and it could not be used to predict the subsequent development of persistent trophoblastic disease.     

Combined Use of CA 125 and CA 15-3 in Patients with Endometrial Carcinoma

Serum levels of CA 125 and CA 15-3 were measured in 148 patients with primary endometrial carcinoma. CA 125-positive levels were found in 33 and 22% of the cases using a cutoff of 35 and 65 U/ml, respectively. Thirty-five (24%) and 12 (8%) patients had CA 15-3 levels higher than 30 and 50 U/ml, respectively. Among 144 patients with clinical stage I-II, 17 (12%) had extrauterine disease. CA 125 (>65 U/ml) and CA 15-3 titers (>30 U/ml) were found in 59 and 47% of occult stage III with respect to 16 and 18% in stage I-II of disease, respectively (P = 0.0001 and P = 0.01). The combined use of CA 125 and CA 15-3 resulted in a reduction of false-positive results of CA 125 with an acceptable sensitivity of 41%. Low-risk patients (GI and M0-M1 tumors) showed a CA 125 positivity (>35 U/ml of 10% with respect to 37% of high-risk patients (G2-G3 and M2 tumors) (P = 0.0026). CA 125 positivity (>65 U/ml was 22% in patients without metastatic lymph node involvement, compared to 58% of cases with histologically positive lymph nodes (P = 0.022). A similar trend, although not statistically significant, was found for CA 15-3. A good correlation was found between CA 125 and CA 15-3 serum levels and clinical course of disease during chemotherapy. A statistically significant relationship was demonstrated between CA 125 (>65 U/ml (P = 0.0027) and CA 15-3 positivity (CA 15-3 >30 and 50 U/ml (P = 0.0004 and P = 0.00025) and a shorter survival. Our data show that CA 125 and CA 15-3 may be used as predictors of extrauterine spread and in monitoring of chemotherapy response in endometrial cancer. Moreover, the presence of elevated levels of these antigens may identify a subset of patients with a particularly poor prognosis.     

43例子宫内膜癌血清SA、CP_2、CA_(125)的研究

目的 评价血清SA、CP_2、CA_(125)在子宫内膜癌诊断及判断预后中的意义。方法 测定43例子宫内膜癌病人和30例对照正常女性静脉血清SA、CP_2、CA_(125)值,并分析其与疾病分期、细胞分化、瘤组织侵肌、腹水癌细胞阳性和淋巴结转移等预后因素之间的关系。结果 在子宫内膜癌病人中,SA灵敏度和特异度分别为24/43(55.81％)、26/30(86.67％);CP_2为22/43(51.16％)、29/30(96.67％);CA_(125)为9/43(20.93％)、30/30(100％)。CP_2升高程度与瘤组织侵肌正相关;CA_(125)升高程度与瘤细胞分化、病人分期正相关。联合3项指标检测,灵敏度和特异度可达81.39％、83.33％。结论 SA、CP_2单项检测子宫内膜癌灵敏度高于CA_(125);并且CP_2与CA_(125)升高程度将影响病人的预后;联合多项指标检测有可能优于单项。     

The concomitant determination of different tumor markers in patients with epithelial ovarian cancer and benign ovarian masses: relevance for differential diagnosis.

The serum levels of CA 125 (cutoff limit, 65 U/ml), CA19.9 (cutoff, 40 U/ml), CA 15.3 (cutoff, 32 U/ml), CA72.4 (cutoff, 3.8 U/ml), and TATI (cutoff, 22 ng/ml) were preoperatively measured in 90 patients with epithelial ovarian cancer and in 254 patients with benign ovarian pathology. CA125 had a sensitivity of 75.6%, a specificity of 86.6%, and a diagnostic accuracy of 83.7% for epithelial ovarian cancer; CA19.9 had a sensitivity of 35.6%, a specificity of 81.1%, and a diagnostic accuracy of 69.2%; CA15.3 had a sensitivity of 57.1%, a specificity of 93.9%, and a diagnostic accuracy of 84.6%; CA72.4 had a sensitivity of 70.7%, a specificity of 91.8%, and a diagnostic accuracy of 86.2%; and TATI had a sensitivity of 47.3%, a specificity of 95.3%, and a diagnostic accuracy of 82.9%. CA 125 was the most sensitive marker for nonmucinous tumors, while CA19.9 and CA72.4 were the antigens more frequently expressed by mucinous malignancies. The sensitivities of serum CA 125 (81.1% vs 50.0%; P = 0.01) and TATI (55.2% vs 18.8%; P = 0.02) were higher in patients above 50 years of age than in younger patients while specificities were quite similar in both age groups. The association of serum CA125 and CA19.9 had a significantly higher sensitivity (93.2% vs 81.1%; P = 0.03) and a slightly lowered specificity (78.9% vs 86.0%; P = 0.46) than CA125 assay alone in the differential diagnosis of ovarian masses in patients above 50 years of age.     

Urinary gonadotropin fragment, a new tumor marker. II. Differentiating a benign from a malignant pelvic mass

We examined the efficacy of CA125 and urinary gonadotropin fragment (UGF) measurements for differentiating benign from malignant pelvic masses. CA125, at a cutoff of greater than or equal to 35 U/ml, detected 82% (n = 71) of ovarian malignancies, but also falsely detected 14% of (n = 332) patients with benign pelvic masses. When the CA125 cutoff was raised from greater than or equal to 35 to greater than or equal to 200 U/ml, the number of false-positives decreased to 1.2%, a manageable level. However, using greater than or equal to 200 U/ml only 49% of cancers were detected. We examined levels of UGF and found that they complement those of CA125, detecting false-negatives. Using UGF at a cutoff of greater than 8 fmol/ml and CA125 at greater than or equal to 200 U/ml a combined sensitivity of 86% was achieved for malignant pelvic masses, with minimal false-detection of benign disease (less than 1.2%). We propose that parallel measurements of CA125 and UGF should be used for discriminating benign and malignant pelvic masses.     

A retrospective study of preoperative CA 125 levels in 82 patients with ovarian cancer

Introduction. The aim of our study was to investigate preoperative serum CA 125 as a prognostic factor in patients with ovarian carcinoma.Methods. A retrospective analysis was conducted on 82 patients with ovarian carcinoma treated at our Unit between 1998 and 2000 who had a serum CA 125, evaluated by a commercially available radioimmunoassay, prior to cytoreductive surgery. We looked for an association between preoperative CA 125 and known prognostic factors of ovarian cancer. We compared outcomes of patients with preoperative CA 125 at or below to 500 U/ml with outcomes of patients with preoperative CA 125 above 500 U/ml.Results. A significant (p<0.002) correlation between stage and CA 125 serum levels was found as 16 out of 18 stage I–II patients (89%) had CA 125 level 500 U/ml and 36 out of 64 stage III–IV patients (56%) had CA 125 level >500 U/ml. Among stage III and IV patients there was nonstatistically significant relation between serum CA 125 and histologic grade (G1+G2 vs. G3) and residual disease (<1 cm vs. >1 cm) after primary cytoreductive surgery. Preoperative serum CA-125 level did not predict either recurrences or disease free interval.Conclusion. Preoperative CA 125 correlated well with FIGO stage but not with age, grade, residual disease after primary surgery, relapse and disease free interval.     

The accuracy of magnetic resonance imaging for preoperative deep myometrium assessment in endometrial cancer

ObjectiveTo evaluate the accuracy of preoperative magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to detect deep myometrial invasion in patients with endometrial cancer.Materials and MethodsWe retrospectively reviewed 66 cases of women with endometrial cancer, who underwent preoperative MRI assessment and surgical staging between January 2006 and October 2010. The MRI findings were then compared with the pathology results. The diagnostic accuracy, sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value (PPV), and negative predictive value (NPV) of MRI in detecting deep myometrium invasion were evaluated.ResultsThe sensitivity, specificity, accuracy, PPV, and NPV results of MRI for the detection of deep myometrium invasion were 92.52%, 74.35%, 81.81%,71.42%, and 93.54%, respectively, with a kappa of 0.64. In the postmenopausal group, the values were 100%, 55.5%, 74.19%, 61.9%, and 100%. In the premenopausal women, they improved to 85.7%, 90.47%, 88.57%, 88.71%, and 90.47%. The sensitivity (100%) was better than the specificity (55.56%) in the postmenopausal women. The predictive value was markedly higher in the premenopausal women than the postmenopausal women (85.7% vs. 61.9%).ConclusionIn patients with endometrial cancer, a preoperative MRI contributes to accurate staging, allowing planning for the scale of surgery and preoperative counseling. In our study, the pretreatment identification of myometrium invasion provided the opportunity for small-scale surgery in the premenopausal women with early endometrial cancer. However, for the postmenopausal patients, the standard surgical procedure is indicated even if the degree of myometrium invasion is low.     

Combined Assay of Serum Levels of CA125 and CA19-9 in Endometrial Carcinoma

Serum levels of CA125 and CA19-9 were examined in 225 cases with endometrial carcinoma before treatment and 32 cases with recurrent endometrial carcinoma. The positive rates in the 225 cases were 27.1% for CA125, 24.0% for CA19-9, and 38.7% for the combined assay. The serum levels of both CA125 and CA19-9 significantly increased with surgical staging. The presence of lymph node metastasis and extrauterine spread exhibited a marked influence on the serum levels of both CA125 and CA19-9. Myometrial invasion and vessel permeation also increased serum levels of CA125, whereas peritoneal cytology and adnexal metastasis exhibited no influence on CA125 levels or CA19-9 levels. Twenty-five of 33 cases who showed either more than 100 U/ml of CA125 level or more than 100 U/ml of CA19-9 level were classified as surgical stage III or IV. The combined assay demonstrated a 71.9% positive rate at the time of detection of the recurrence (65.6% for CA125, 43.7% for CA19-9). In 34.4% of the 32 recurrent cases, elevated levels of the tumor markers were the first sign of recurrence. These data indicate that the use of CA19-9 in combination with CA125 is noteworthy in the management of patients with endometrial carcinoma.     

175例子宫内膜异位症患者血清CA125水平的回顾性分析

目的:分析子宫内膜异位症患者合并子宫内膜息肉的情况,探讨血清CA125水平与痛经、内异症rAFS分期、病灶部位的相关性,为临床上更好地解读CA125水平提供依据。方法:回顾性分析2010年1月至12月我院术中或术后病理诊断为子宫内膜异位症的175例患者的临床资料。结果:(1)20.0%的子宫内膜异位症患者合并子宫内膜息肉;(2)36.6%的内异症患者有中、重度痛经,痛经程度与血清CA125水平无相关性;(3)Ⅰ期、Ⅱ期、Ⅲ期、Ⅳ期内异症患者的平均CA125水平分别为21.5U/ml、28.4U/ml、38.6U/ml、57.1U/ml,Ⅲ～Ⅳ期内异症患者血清CA125水平高于Ⅰ～Ⅱ期患者(P<0.05);(4)腹膜型、混合型、卵巢型内异症患者血清CA125的阳性率分别为21.4%、63.0%和67.4%,混合型、卵巢型内异症患者血清CA125阳性率显著高于腹膜型(P<0.001)。结论:血清CA125水平不能作为内异症合并子宫内膜息肉的预测指标;血清CA125水平可用于辅助鉴别内异症的分期和病灶部位,但是CA125对于内异症的早期诊断缺乏敏感性。