Abstract
BACKGROUND:
Carbohydrate antigen 125 (CA-125) is one of the most common used tumor biomarkers in clinical practice. Previous studies showed an association of increased CA-125 levels with advanced characteristics and inferior outcome in non-Hodgkin lymphoma.
OBJECTIVE:
To identify the clinical significance of CA-125 in diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL).
METHODS:
We retrospectively analyzed 181 patients with DLBCL with measured serum CA-125 concentration at diagnosis and follow-ups during the courses. Clinical significance of CA-125 was evaluated by assessing the association between CA-125 levels and clinical characteristics.
RESULTS:
CA-125 levels on admission were positively correlated with serum lactate dehydrogenase, β2-microglobulin(β2-MG), serum ferritin (SF) and cavity effusion, while negatively correlated with serum albumen (ALB). During the courses, CA-125 levels were positively correlated with β 2-MG, SF and effusion, and negatively correlated with ALB. A better correlation between effusion and CA-125 levels was observed. Using a cut-off value > 50.39 U/ml gave a sensitivity of 73.8% and a specificity of 92.1% for the indication of effusion at diagnosis, while during the courses the sensitivity was much lower. On the prognostic role of CA-125, we found prognostic relevance on progression-free survival(PFS) but not on overall survival (OS).
CONCLUSIONS:
Our study revealed limited usefulness of CA-125 concentration at diagnosis and follow-ups in DLBCL.