Aims and background The aim of this study was to evaluate patients with metastatic ovarian tumors from extragenital primary sites. Methods The medical records of 75 patients were reviewed retrospectively for age at diagnosis, presenting symptoms, preoperative tumor marker levels, preoperative diagnostic workup, operative technique, intraoperative evaluation, frozen-section and pathology results, laterality of metastasis, and primary tumor site. The specific impact of metastasis from colorectal and gastric primary sites on laterality, gross features and dimensions of ovarian mass, volume of ascites and tumor marker levels was investigated. Results Primary sites were stomach (37.3%), colorectal region (28%), lymphoma (12%), breast (6.7%), biliary system (2.7%), appendix (1.3%) and small intestine (1.3%). It was not possible to identify the primary tumor site in 8 (10.7%) patients. Bilateral metastasis was found in 86.4% patients; 42.7% of the metastatic ovarian tumors were Krukenberg tumors; 50.7% of the ovarian masses were solid. Frozen section was confirmed by postoperative pathological results in 98% of the patients. The mean preoperative serum levels of tumor markers were 298.7 U/mL, 178 U/mL and 113.3 U/mL for CA 125, CA 19-9 and CA 15-3, respectively. CA 125 levels were above 35 U/mL in 81.3% of the patients. The presence of ascites was more frequent in ovarian tumors originating from colorectal and gastric primaries. Conclusions Surgery is essential for the diagnosis of the primary tumor and necessary for relief of symptoms. The identification of the primary site is required to plan adequate treatment.

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This study aimed to investigate the role of serum cancer antigen (CA) 125, progesterone, and beta-human chorionic gonadotropin (βHCG) levels in the differential diagnosis of intrauterine pregnancy, complete or incomplete abortion, and extrauterine pregnancy.This study was carried out in a teaching and research hospital between 2007 and 2009. A total of 175 patients with abortion, tubal ectopic pregnancy, and healthy pregnancy were recruited into the study. Pre-and post-treatment blood levels were compared among the groups.Serum βHCG levels were higher in cases of normal healthy pregnancy than in cases of abortion and ectopic pregnancy. No difference was observed between serum βHCG levels of abortion and ectopic pregnancy cases. The levels of serum CA 125 in abortions were found to be higher compared with the other two groups. The levels of serum progesterone in cases of ectopic pregnancy were found to be lower compared with the other two groups.The utilization of the serum βHCG level in the differential diagnosis of normal/abnormal pregnancies and serum CA 125 and progesterone levels in the differential diagnosis of abortion and ectopic pregnancies are alternative parameters.