Extremely elevated CA 125 due to an unruptured large endometrioma: A Case Report.

Lee, Dong Heon; Cho, Jun Sik; Hwang, Jong Yun

Case Report

Korean Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology 2005;48(6):1585-1590.
Published online June 1, 2005.

Extremely elevated CA 125 due to an unruptured large endometrioma: A Case Report.

Dong Heon Lee, Jun Sik Cho, Jong Yun Hwang

Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, College of Medicine, Kangwon National University, Chunchon, Korea. obypf@kangwon.ac.kr

Abstract

CA 125 is a high molecular weight glycoprotein expressed in the cell surface of some derivatives of embryonic coelomic epithelium. It presents in over 80% of non-mucinous epithelial ovarian carcinomas and it also occurs in the serum of healthy males and females at low concentrations (<35 IU/mL). Serum CA 125 concentration may also be moderately elevated in several benign conditions, such as pelvic inflammatory disease, uterine fibroids, pregnancy, spontaneous abortion with chromosomal abnormality, and especially in endometriosis. However serum CA 125 concentration is seldom over 100 IU/mL in endometriosis. In this paper, we present a patient with bilateral ovarian endometrioma associated with abnormally high serum CA 125 level (>1,000 IU/mL) and after excision of the ovarian tumor, the CA 125 levels returned to normal. Our case further emphasizes the association of high levels of CA 125 with benign gynecologic conditions and we discussed the possible explanations for this abnormal elevation of CA 125 levels.

Key Words: CA 125, Endometriosis, Benign gynecologic conditions