The norm is CA-125. What does it mean?

Ovarian cancer is at the top of the list of the main causes of female death from malignant tumors. Data from the International Agency for Research on Cancer suggest that about 165,000 cases of ovarian cancer are recorded each year globally and that about 100,000 women die from this disease. In Russia, there are 16 cases of ill and 8 deaths due to malignant tumors of the ovaries per 100,000 female. Life expectancy with this disease is a maximum of 5 years, and such cases are about 30%, since most women turn to doctors for help only at the last stages of the disease, when they already feel a serious malaise.

The development of effective methods for diagnosing this type of cancer is an urgent task. Currently, there are a lot of different methods of diagnosis: ultrasound, X-ray tomography and magnetic resonance, immunological and biochemical analyzes, laparoscopy. The most common and widely used to detect the presence of ovarian cancer is the antigen glycoprotein CA-125, it is he who is the main cancer marker of this type of cancer. The norm of CA-125 in the blood is 35 U / ml.

A small amount of CA-125 is always present in women in the endometrium - in the mucous membrane of the uterus. Due to the presence of natural barriers, it can not penetrate into the bloodstream. The level of CA-125 has the property of increasing to 35 U / ml, but only during menstruation and most often with endometriosis.

The norm of CA-125 is 35 U / ml, when the indicator is exceeded not for the reasons listed above, this is already a symptom of cancer.

It can be cancer:
- uterus, fallopian tubes, ovaries
- mammary glands
- the lungs
- pancreas
- digestive system (rectum, liver, stomach)
- other malignant tumors.

The content of the glycoprotein CA-125 can be increased not only in the case of cancer of the female reproductive system, therefore it is impossible and incorrect to make a diagnosis based only on these data. Additional research is required in this case. That is, the analysis of CA-125 can not be the only diagnostic indicator.

Also, the norm of CA-125 can increase quite strongly and in the presence of benign gynecological tumors or inflammatory diseases of the appendages. The oncomarker is slightly increased in the following states of health:
• Ovarian cyst
• Endometriosis
• Inflammation of the appendages
• Menstruation
• Peritonitis
• Pleurisy
• STI (sexually transmitted infection)
• Hepatitis, cirrhosis of the liver
• Pancreatitis in chronic form
• There are also cases of some increase in the CA-125 cancer autoimmune disease and in the first trimester of pregnancy.

The study of CA-125 in blood is mainly used to determine serous ovarian cancer, as well as to diagnose its recurrence. In almost 83% of patients with ovarian cancer, the level of its content is about 123-164 U / ml in the blood. For the serous form of ovarian cancer, the degree of increase in the CA-125 rate depends on the stage of the tumor itself: in the first and second stages, CA-125 increases in about 50% of cases, in the third and fourth stages, in all patients. In women with ascitic form of ovarian cancer, the norm of CA-125 in the blood is exceeded to 10-20 thousand units / ml.
With effective chemotherapy or removal of the tumor, the maintenance of the CA-125 index in the blood decreases. If CA-125 is elevated further, then this is an indicator of the progression of the tumor process. Usually, to assess the effectiveness of chemotherapy, the level of CA-125 is examined, both before each course of treatment, and after its completion. Periodicity is 1-2 months.