Lysophosphatidic Acid in Patients With Ovarian Cancer

Abstract

Purpose: We seek to compare lysophosphatidic acid (LPA) plasma levels (all subtypes) in patients with ovarian cancer and patients without this disease. Patients and Methods: Capillary electrophoresis with indirect ultraviolet detection was used to analyze the plasma LPA levels (with all subtypes) of 133 patients (60 patients with ovarian cancer, 43 patients without ovarian pathology, and 30 patients with benign ovarian tumors) during a 3-year period. The Kolmogorov-Smirnov test and Mann-Whitney U test were used for statistical analysis. Results: Patients with ovarian cancer had a significantly higher plasma LPA level (all subtypes; n = 60; median, 6.99 μmol/L; range, 4.53-43.21 μmol/L) compared with controls with no ovarian pathology (n = 43, median, 2.92 μmol/L; range, 0.94-22.93 μmol/L) and patients with benign ovarian tumor (n = 30; median, 7.73 μmol/L; range, 1.12-28.84 μmol/L; P < .001). We found that plasma LPA levels were associated with the International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics stage and ovarian cancer histologic type. Patients with endometrial ovarian cancer had significantly higher plasma LPA levels in comparison with other histologic types of epithelial ovarian carcinoma. Conclusion: The plasma LPA level can be a useful marker for ovarian cancer, particularly in the early stages of the disease.