Are preoperative serum cancer antigen 125 levels a prognostic factor for outcome in epithelial ovarian cancer? A systematic review.

Background: Most patients with epithelial ovarian cancers (EOC) present with advanced-stage disease because of non-specific symptoms and lack of reliable strategies for early diagnosis. Cancer antigen 125 (CA-125) is suggested as a useful prognostic biomarker, its serum level is raised in over 80.0% of patients with EOC.