Using serum CA125 to assess the activity of potential cytostatic agents in ovarian cancer.

Objective: New strategies are required to rapidly identify novel cytostatic agents before embarking on large randomized trials. This study investigates whether a change in rate of rise (slope) of serum CA125 from before to after starting a novel agent could be used to identify cytostatic agents. Tamoxifen was used to validate this hypothesis.

Management of asymptomatic patients on follow-up for ovarian cancer with rising CA-125 concentrations.

In most women who have been treated for ovarian cancer, serum concentrations of the tumour marker cancer antigen (CA)-125 will serially rise on average 4 months before they develop symptoms or signs of relapse. Whether or not early reintroduction of treatment produces a survival advantage is unclear. Although a high chance exists that tumour response can be achieved with chemotherapy, complete cure of these patients is rarely possible.