Significance of serum tumor markers in patients with carcinoma of the ovary.

A comparison of preoperative serum tumor markers (lactate dehydrogenase, lactate dehydrogenase isoenzymes, alpha-hydroxybutyrate dehydrogenase, alkaline phosphatase, aldolase, leucine aminopeptidase, cholinesterase, erythrocyte sedimentation reaction, carcinoembryonic antigen, alpha-fetoprotein, and beta 2-microglobulin) was made in 76 patients with ovarian or uterine cancer. Sixty-six patients with benign ovarian tumor served as control subjects. From analysis of each tumor marker the greatest positive results were obtained with the markers beta 2-microglobulin (57.1%), lactate dehydrogenase (53.1%), and hydroxybutyrate dehydrogenase (46.2%) for patients with carcinoma of the ovary. The use of these marker combinations in all ovarian cancer patients resulted in a marked increase of the positive rate from 57.1 to 85.2%. In stage I cases, the positive rate increased from 40.6 to 63.6%.