CA 125 in normal tissues and carcinomas of the uterine cervix, endometrium and fallopian tube

Abstract

The study deals with the occurrence of cancer antigen 125 (CA 125) in the normal and neoplastic uterine cervix, endometrium and fallopian tube and its applicability as a tumour marker. CA 125 concentrations were measured in 52 secretion specimens, in cytosol fractions of 97 tissue biopsies and in serum from 47 women with nonmalignant disorders and from 334 patients with carcinomas. High quantities of CA 125 (780-454860 U/ml) were detected in cervical mucus, intra-uterine and tubal fluid, exceeding those in the corresponding serum samples by factors of up to 2000. CA 125 concentrations were 9-53 fold higher in cytosol fractions of normal and neoplastic glandular epithelia of the endocervix and endometrium than in those of cervical squamous epithelia and the cervical wall. Despite similarly high antigen concentrations in normal glandular epithelia and adenocarcinomas serum levels elevated to above 65 U/ml were only found in patients with malignant tumours. The positivity rates in serum increased with tumour extent and were 0-43% for primary and 63-79% for recurrent cervical, endometrial and tubal adenocarcinomas. During long-term follow-up, CA 125 serum concentrations were concordant with the clinical course in 10 out of 11 patients with progressive carcinomas. According to these results, the release of CA 125 into the peripheral blood is apparently dependent on the infiltrative growth and the mass of the tumour rather than on the local tissue concentrations. The clinical use of CA 125 is limited to the detection of advanced adenocarcinomas of the Müllerian duct.

Serum CA 125 as a tumor marker and the expression of c-erbB-2 oncogene in tubal malignancies

“…CA 125 is found on the surface of epithelial cells of MiMlerian origin such as that of the fallopian tube, endometrium, and endocervix (29)(30)(31). Although Nillof et al (14), as early as 1984, reported elevated serum CA 125 levels in four patients with carcinoma of the fallopian tube, only a few authors have examined serum CA 125 levels in patients with tubal malignancies and mostly as case reports (14)(15)(16)(17)(18)(19)(20)(21)(22)(23)(24). Serial measurements of serum CA 125 levels during the follow-up of patients with primary carcinoma of the fallopian tube have been previously reported in only 10 patients (16-1s' 2o) A review of the literature dealing with CA 125 measurements in the serum of patients with primary adenocarcinoma of the fallopian tube is shown in Table 3.…”

Tumor antigen CA125 suppresses antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity (ADCC) via direct antibody binding and suppressed Fc-γ receptor engagement

“…Patients with serum CA125 levels greater than 100 U/mL were found to have tumor tissue expression exceeding 10,000 U/mL [ 10 ]. Moreover, diagnostic studies measuring interpatient serum and soluble tissue CA125 levels have also found that local CA125 levels exceed corresponding serum values by more than 2,000-fold [ 11 ]. While these data suggest that high serum CA125 levels likely correlate with significantly higher levels of either sCA125 and/or membrane-bound CA125 (mCA125) within EOC lesions, the correlation between tumor lesion size and sCA125 levels has been equivocal to date, likely due to the small sample sizes tested as well as disease heterogeneity.…”

Tumor da trompa de Falópio. Relato de caso e revisão da literatura

“…O CA-125 eleva-se em 63 a 79% dos pacientes com recorrência tumoral [4,5]. Desconhece-se outros marcadores tumorais relacionados com as lesões da tuba uterina [25].…”