CA 125 in monitoring chemotherapy of the patients with ovarian cancer.

Changes in CA 125 antigen concentration and serum half-life were determined in 63 women with ovarian carcinoma during chemotherapy following various types of surgery. Concentration of CA 125 in serum correlated with the degree of clinical advancement of the tumor, 20.00 and 688.84 U per ml at stages I, II, and IV, respectively, and with remaining tumor mass, despite chemotherapy, serum CA 125 level rose after exploratory surgery. Estimation of CA 125 levels proved less useful in the mucinous type of ovarian carcinoma. The treatment scheme including Cisplatinum reduced CA 125 levels most effectively correlated with good clinical response to the therapy. Testing the half-life time appeared to provide a good prognostic index, 6.25 +/- 2.08 days after radical surgery and 44.87 +/- 26.5 days after probatory laparotomy.