Objective: To evaluate the contribution of preoperative serum tumor markers to manage borderline ovarian tumors (BOT).
Study design: Retrospective multicentre study including 317 BOT. Serum tumor marker levels of CA125, CA19-9, CEA, and CA15-3 were determined by radio-immunoassay.
Results: Among 181 women with serous BOT and 136 women with mucinous BOT, respectively 55 of 114 (48.2%) and 38 of 91 (41.8%) had at least one abnormal value. Women with preoperative tumor marker assays were more likely to have radical treatment (p=0.0001), full staging (p=0.004), and intra-operative histology (p<0.0001). Women with at least one abnormal tumor marker were more likely to undergo laparotomy (p=0.007), to have intra-operative histology (p=0.04) and complete staging (p=0.0008). In multivariate analysis, first-line laparoscopy was associated with abnormal tumor marker levels (OR=9.63; 95%CI=1.40-66.39; p=0.02), while laparotomy was associated with large tumors, bilateral tumors, and ascitis visible on sonography.
Conclusion: Serum tumor marker assays modified both preoperative assessment and surgical management of BOT.
Copyright © 2009. Published by Elsevier Ltd.