Article Text
Abstract
Introduction/Background Endometrial cancer affects approximately 5% of the female patients. Lately, serum tumor markers such as Ca-125 and HE4 have been suggested as useful prognostic markers of advanced disease. Furthermore ROMA index is used so far to estimate the likelihood of malignancy of an ovarian tumor but its utility in assessing endometrial cancer is under study.
Methodology 154 endometrial cancer patients of Metaxa Memorial Cancer Hospital were retrospectively studied and the preoperative serum levels of tumor markers HE4 and CA-125 as well as the ROMA index were measured for each case.
Results Mean age for patients with endometrial cancer was 61,50 years. CA-125 values were significantly different when comparing women with depth of myometrial invasion >50% and <50%, the presence of metastases in the upper abdomen, lymph node metastasis and positive or negative cytology.
HE-4 values were significantly different between women with depth of myometrial invasion >50% and women with depth of myometrial invasion <50%, women with metastases in the upper abdomen and women with no disease in the upper abdomen. There were also statistically significant differences in HE4 values between groups with positive or negative lymph nodes, and positive or negative cytology. Statistically significant differences were observed when comparing ROMA values for women with depth of myometrial invasion >50% and women with depth of myometrial invasion <50%, presence of disease in the upper abdomen or not, positive or negative lymph nodes, and positive or negative cytology.
Conclusion The present study confirms CA-125 to have a prognostic value in endometrial cancer patients. It also implies a significant association between HE-4 and the cancer stage and grade as well as the metastases in the upper abdomen.By calculating the ROMA score in our patients we combined both marker levels and showed a corresponding difference regarding endometrial pathology.
Disclosure Nothing to disclose.