Predictive value of the combined serum CA 125 and TPS during chemotherapy and before second-look laparotomy in epithelial ovarian cancer

Abstract

CA 125 and TPS levels were measured in the serum of 33 patients with advanced non-mucinous epithelial ovarian cancer. These patients were in clinical complete response (CR) after postoperative chemotherapy. The median level of CA 125 decreased rapidly after the first cycle of treatment, and then decreased slowly throughout the rest of the treatment. Patients with a positive second-look had significantly higher CA 125 levels than those with pathological CR. The median level of TPS decreased linearly throughout the treatment. The negative predictive value of the level of CA 125 was 72.7% (95% CI 39.3-92.7) using 10 U/ml as cut-off while that of the level of TPS was 73.3% (95% CI 44.8-91.1), using a cut-off value of 50 U/L. The combined CA 125 and TPS criteria had a better negative predictive value of 88.9% (95% CI 63.9-89.1).