Akademik Veri Yönetim Sistemi
NOBEL MEDICUS, sa.3, ss.32-36, 2008 (SCI-Expanded)
Objective: CA125 is a tumor marker that is commonly ordered in internal medicine and sometimes confuses the clinicians. In this study we evaluated the prevalence and causes of CA125 increase in a patient Population attending an internal medicine clinic. Material and Method: A total of 420 CA125 assays were prospectively analysed between March 2003 and October 2003 in Istanbul University, Internal Medicine Department. Clinical diagnosis, presence of any serosal effusion, age and sex were evaluated. Results: 103 (24.5%) patients had a value of CA125>35 kU/L. 60 were women and 43 were men. Their median age was 63 years (range, 15-92 years). Benign causes were slightly more frequent than malignant ones. The most frequent diagnosis was hematological malignancy (25.2%). In this group, there was significant superiority of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (13 patients; 50%). Effusions were found in 48 patients (46.6%). All the 3 patients with CA125>1000 kU/L had a metastatic solid malignancy. Conclusion: Our study suggests that pathologies causing increase in CA125 is quite frequent in internal medicine practice. Pleural and peritoneal effusions due to malignant or nonmalignant diseases arc the commen disorders associated with CA125 increment. Very high levels of CA125 are more commonly associated with a malignancy.