Recurrent ovarian sex cord tumor with annular tubules: tumor marker and chemotherapy experience.

Recurrent sex cord tumor with annular tubules is an unusual ovarian cancer. The authors report a patient with recurrent disease that was ultimately followed with multiple tumor markers. During this period the patient was treated only with chemotherapy. Her regimen consisted of a combination of etoposide, bleomycin, and cisplatin. The tumor markers that were followed were CA-125, CEA, inhibin, and Müllerian-inhibiting substance (MIS). There was no elevation of the CA-125 or CEA, but inhibin and MIS proved to be effective markers. Serum inhibin and MIS correlated perfectly with her documented disease status and was brought into the normal range when the patient was disease-free. This disease-free status was proven by surgical reexploration. This report is the first documented complete response in this rare malignancy treated by chemotherapy alone with distant metastatic spread. It also gives strong linkage of inhibin and MIS as good markers in this particularly rare malignancy.