Importance of detecting cancer antigen 125 in patients with liver cirrhosis with ascites

To discuss clinical significance of detecting cancer antigen 125 in plasma and ascites of patients with chronic liver disease in the presence of ascites, a total of 141 patients were studied. CA125 levels were assessed by ELISA in all patients and also simultaneously in the ascitic fluid of 40 patients. At next day after large volume paracentesis, CA125 levels were measured in 30 patients and also simultaneously in the ascitic fluid of 10 patients again. The results showed that the plasma levels of CA125 in patients with ascites were significantly higher than those in patients without ascites (P0.01) and the CA125 levels in the ascitic fluid were higher than corresponding plasma levels (P0.01)). The plasma CA125 levels were correlated with CA125 levels in ascitic fluid (r=0.965,P0.01). After large volume paracentesis, plasma CA125 and ascitic fluid CA125 were also decreased (P0.01). It indicated that CA125 is a sensitive marker to detect ascites in the patients with liver cirrhosis.