[The value of CA 125 levels in serum, peritoneal fluid and tumor in women with ovarian cancer].

The patients group consisted of 133 women with primary ovarian carcinoma at the average age of 56. According to the size of tumor diagnosed preoperatively, patients were divided into 3 groups: with tumor smaller than 5 cm, with tumor between 5 and 10 cm and over 10 cm. 74 women were tested for antigen CA 125 in the serum preoperatively and all of them were tested for it postoperatively. Moreover 28 samples of the antigen were tested in the peritoneal fluid and 7 samples in the tumor tissue. The tests on correlation of CA 125 level and the tumor size, process of cancer disease and histopathological type of cancer were carried out. Our data show that the reduction of tumor mass decreases marker level in the serum. Not in all cases of progression and recurrence the increased level of CA 125 was observed. There is, however, correlation between increased CA 125 level and histopathological type of cancer--the highest for serous and undifferentiated cancers. The marker level is the highest in the tumor and decreases in the peritoneal fluid and serum which proves that the marker is produced by tumor cells.