BACKGROUND: Despite radical surgical and chemotherapeutic treatment of ovarian cancer, the majority of patients develop recurrence and die due to progressive disease. Routine measurement of the tumor marker CA-125 is often used in the follow-up management. However, the role of preoperative CA-125 as a prognostic factor before secondary cytoreduction of relapsed ovarian cancer has not been determined. PATIENTS AND METHODS: CA-125 serum concentration and relevant clinico-pathological variables were analyzed regarding their potential prognostic impact in patients selected for secondary cytoreduction of recurrent epithelial ovarian cancer. RESULTS: In total, 48 patients underwent secondary cytoreduction at the University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf between 1996 and 2004 and 36 patients were evaluable for serum CA-125 concentration. Median age was 60 years (range 30-78 years) and median relapse-free survival before secondary cytoreduction was 18 months. The median time to progression after secondary surgery was 22 months (range 1-100 months), and median overall survival was 26 months (range 1-100 months). Serum CA-125 at the time of secondary cytoreduction was elevated (>35 kU/L) in 30 of 36 patients (81%) with a median of 212 kU/L (range 6-3866 kU/L). Multivariate analysis did not reveal a prognostic significance for preoperative CA-125. The only independent prognostic factors of improved survival were progression-free interval before secondary cytoreduction (p=0.047) and minimal residual disease after secondary cytoreduction (p=0.024). CONCLUSION: Although most patients had elevated serum CA-125 at the time of secondary cytoreductive surgery, CA-125 had no prognostic relevance.
