Prognostic value of the rate of rise of CA 125 after first line chemotherapy for survival in patients with relapsed ovarian cancer

Abstract

5544 Background: A confirmed doubling of CA-125 level is now established as one definition of progression in patients with ovarian cancer. However it is unclear whether the rate of rise of CA125 carries independent adverse prognostic significance, sufficient to justify therapeutic decision making on this basis alone. Methods: All patients who had received first line chemotherapy for ovarian cancer between 1994 and 2003 were identified from our electronic database. For patients with normal post-treatment CA125, the first date of any subsequent reading> ULN was recorded as the date of CA125 progression. For patients with abnormal post-treatment CA125, the first recorded date at which CA125 had increased by at least 20% from nadir was recorded as the date of CA125 progression. The first date at which CA125 rose to at least 2 fold the level of progression was recorded and the time between progression and doubling was defined as the doubling time. The time from end of first line treatment to CA125 progression ...