Preevacuation serum CA 125 in complete hydatidiform mole

Abstract

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.