Correlation of serum, urinary and salivary CA 125 levels in patients with adnexal masses.

A prospective study was made of 105 consecutive patients admitted to one department of obstetrics and gynaecology for surgery for adnexal masses. The objective was to investigate if CA 125 level is measurable in the urine or saliva and to correlate these measurements with serum CA 125 level in patients presenting with adnexal masses. The final diagnosis and grouping of patients for analysis were based on histopathological examination of the adnexal masses. Serum, urine and salivary samples were collected simultaneously from all patients on the morning before surgery. CA 125 levels in each sample were determined in duplicate using Abbott CA 125-E1A monoclonal test kits (Abbott Laboratories, USA). The mean inter-assay variability was 10%. CA 125 was detectable in the serum, urine and saliva from all the patients and the concentration was highest in the saliva and lowest in urine. There were no discernible differences in the distributions of salivary CA 125 concentrations between patients with ovarian malignancies and those with benign ovarian cysts. In contrast, both serum and urinary CA 125 levels were significantly higher in the ovarian cancer group. There was no correlation in CA 125 concentrations between serum and urine, or between serum and saliva. For detection of ovarian malignancies, the sensitivity, specificity, and positive and negative predictive values for serum CA 125 measurement (> or = 35 U/mL) were 88.9%, 79.2%, 27.6% and 98.7 respectively. The corresponding figures for urinary CA 125 measurement (> or = 10 U/mL) were 88.9%, 66.7%, 19.5% and 98.4% respectively.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Urinary cholesterol. VIII. Its excretion in women with ovarian neoplasms.

The urinary excretion of nonesterified cholesterol (NEC) has been investigated in 57 women with ovarian neoplasms and/or related nonneoplastic diseases. Twelve patients had benign tumors or lesions and 45 had malignant neoplasms of their ovaries. All patients with nonmalignant ovarian tumors or lesions had normal NEC excretion irrespective of the type of tumor or lesion or its degree of extension. In contrast, urinary NEC hyperexcretion occurred with the following frequencies in patients with active malignant ovarian neoplasms: 18 of 19 cystadenocarcinomas of the serous and/or mucinous types; one of one endometrioid carcinoma; four of four malignant granulosa cell tumors; two of two mixed malignant germ cell tumors; and one of one malignant mixed müllerian tumor. Single cases of clear cell carcinoma and of rhabdomyosarcoma had a normal NEC excretion. Urinary hyperexcretion of NEC was also found after surgery in two of seven surviving patients with apparently localized resectable disease according to their staging. It is possible that in these two patients NEC hyperexcretion was due to undetected foci of cancer (wrong staging), since neither omental and peritoneal biopsies, nor cytologic examination of peritoneal washings or free fluid were performed. A normal excretion of urinary NEC has been characteristic of 19 of 21 surviving patients treated by surgery and adjunctive therapy in whom we have performed follow-up NEC determinations. They were 16 of 18 cystadenocarcinomas malignant germ cell tumor. The 94% correlation between the presence of proven active ovarian carcinomas and urinary NEC hyperexcretion is significant. The clinical significance of this investigation is even greater when one considers that cystadenocarcinomas constitute more than 75% of all primary malignant ovarian tumors.