CA-125

Cancer antigen 125 (CA -125) is a tumor marker which can be increased especially in ovarian carcinomas, as well as other tumors.

The tumor marker is measured in the serum and decreases with increasing tumor mass and metastasis to. The tumor marker CA -125 is the protein Mucin16, also known as MUC16. It is not only in advanced ovarian cancer increases, but also in other malignant tumors of the endometrium, fallopian tubes, lungs, breast and the gastrointestinal tract.

CA -125 is, however, also increases in a variety of benign diseases, such as endometriosis, inflammatory diseases of the abdominal cavity - particularly the ovaries - and also during pregnancy.

As most of the tumor marker CA- 125 is not very sensitive to the occurrence of a neoplastic disease, nor is a high specificity against. Therefore, the marker is not suitable as a screening method, but mainly for clinical monitoring during treatment.

• Tumor markers