Level and Evaluation of Tumor Marker CA-125 in Ovarian Cancer Patients in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan

Background: Due to the increase in morbidity and mortality rate, cancer has become an alarming threatto the human population worldwide. Since cancer is a progressive disorder, timely diagnosis is necessary toprevent/stop cancer from progressing to a severe stage. In Khyber Paktunkhwa, Pakistan, many tumors arediagnosed with endoscopy and biopsy; rare studies exist regarding the diagnosis and evaluation of ovariancancer, based on tumor markers like CA-125.
Objectives: The objectives of this study were to investigate andevaluate levels of CA-125 in hospitalized ovarian cancer patients. Materials and
Methods: In this study, a totalof 63 admitted patients having ovarian cancer by biopsy were included. The level of CA-125 was determinedin the blood of these patients using ELISA technique.
Results: Out of 63 patients, the level of CA-125 was highin 52% . The affected individuals were more in the group of 40-60 and the level of CA-125 was comparativelyhigher in patients having moderately differentiated histology than those having well differentiated and poorlydifferentiated tumor histology. Moreover, the highest level of CA-125 was present among the patients havingserous subtype of carcinoma and the common stage of carcinoma was stage II followed by stage III, I and IV.
Conclusions: CA-125 level was high in more than 50% of the total patients. Moreover, CA-125 elevation wasmore common in serous subtype and stage II cancer patients.