Clinical analysis of four serum tumor markers in 458 patients with ovarian tumors: diagnostic value of the combined use of HE4, CA125, CA19-9, and CEA in ovarian tumors

Purpose: To investigate the diagnostic values of human epididymis protein 4 (HE4), carbohydrate antigen 125 (CA125), carbohydrate antigen 19-9 (CA19-9), and carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) for ovarian tumors. Methods: The participants were divided into three groups: 386 healthy women (control group), 262 patients with benign ovarian tumors (the benign group), and 196 patients with malignant pelvic tumors (the malignant group). The serum levels of HE4, CA125, CA19-9, and CEA were analyzed by electrochemiluminescent immunoassay. Results: It showed that serum levels of HE4, CA125, CA19-9, and CEA of patients with ­malignant ovarian tumors were significantly higher than those in the control group and benign group ( P 0.05). Conclusion: The combination of three or four tumor markers did not improve the diagnostic efficacy when compared with the combination of HE4 and CA125. Keywords: human epididymis protein 4, carbohydrate antigen 125, carbohydrate antigen 19-9, carcinoembryonic antigen, pelvic tumor