Serum levels of the oncofetal antigens CA-125, CA 19-9 and CA 15-3 in patients with endometriosis

Dimitrios Panidis, D Panidis, G Vlassis, J Matalliotakis, J. M. Matalliotakis, S Skiadopoulos, Spyros Skiadopoulos, A Kalogeropoulos, Andreas P. Kalogeropoulos
Journal of endocrinological investigation · 1988 · vol. 11(11) , pp. 801–804 · doi:10.1007/bf03350229 · PMID:3225401 · W1978141139
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This study measured CA-125, CA 19-9, and CA 15-3 serum levels in endometriosis patients before, during, and after danazol treatment, finding pretreatment elevation and significant reduction post-treatment.

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This paper measured serum oncofetal antigens CA-125, CA 19-9, and CA 15-3 in 8 women with endometriosis (ages 21–37), assessing levels before treatment, during the last 15 days of a 6-month danazol regimen, and again 3 months after stopping danazol. Before treatment, some participants had elevated levels across all three markers or only subsets, and danazol significantly reduced CA-125 and CA-19-9 (and to a lesser degree CA 15-3), with levels remaining significantly lower 3 months post-therapy. The authors conclude that endometriosis is among pathological conditions associated with elevated levels of these antigens and that ovarian function mainly influences CA-125 and CA 19-9, while the study’s small sample size is a major caveat. This paper is centrally about endometriosis — it characterizes how danazol affects CA-125, CA 19-9, and CA 15-3 serum levels in women with endometriosis.

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Abstract

The levels of the oncofetal antigens CA-125, CA 19-9 and CA 15-3 were measured in serum samples taken from 8 women, aged 21 to 37 yr, before treatment, during the last fifteen days of a 6-month administration of danazol and finally three months after treatment withdrawal. The purpose of the study was to investigate: i) whether endometriosis belongs to the pathologic conditions which induce a concomitant increase in the values of CA-125, CA 19-9 and CA 15-3, and ii) the effect of danazol on the levels of these antigens. Our results indicate that before danazol treatment, three women showed pathologic levels of all three antigens, one of CA 19-9 and CA 15-3, one of CA 19-9 alone, and two of CA 15-3 alone. Administration of the drug significantly reduced the levels of CA-125 (p < 0.001) and CA 19-9 (p < 0.05) and to a lesser degree the levels of CA 15-3. Three months after danazol treatment discontinuation, the levels of these three antigens remained significantly lower (p< 0.05) than the respective pretreatment values. Our findings substantiate the view that endometriosis must be classified with the pathologic conditions which induce a rise in the levels of all three antigens, and that ovarian function mainly influences the levels of CA-125 and CA 19-9. Similar content being viewed by others

References

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Condition tags

mesh:D004715endometriosis

MeSH descriptors

Antigens, Tumor-Associated, Carbohydrate Endometriosis Adult Antigens, Tumor-Associated, Carbohydrate Danazol Danazol Endometriosis Endometriosis Female Humans

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