CA-125 NOT always cancer!

Women's health
1

What conditions other than ovarian cancer can cause increased CA 125 results?

A number of benign conditions can cause elevations of the CA 125 level, including pregnancy, endometriosis, uterine fibroids (benign tumors), pancreatitis, normal menstruation, pelvic inflammatory disease, and cirrhosis of the liver. Benign tumors or cysts of the ovaries can also cause an abnormal test result. Increases can also be seen in cancers other than ovarian cancer, including malignancies of the uterine tubes, endometrium, lung, breast, pancreas, and gastrointestinal tract as well as lymphoma.

Is CA 125 testing useful as a cancer screening test?

Although CA 125 is a useful test in monitoring women who are being treated for ovarian cancer, a single CA 125 test is not considered to be a useful screening test for cancer. Some women with ovarian cancer (up to 20%) never have elevated CA 125 levels, while most women who do have elevated CA 125 levels do not have cancer. In fact, because the results of CA 125 testing can be elevated in so many noncancerous conditions, only about 3% of women with elevated CA 125 levels have ovarian cancer.

2

Thanks Crosado, that is useful and interesting information. I have twice had elevated CA125 levels, once when fibroids were diagnosed and lately the discovery of a small ovarian cyst.  Googling CA125 is very scary and mostly points to ovarian cancer. It's always good to be checked out but without the worry of reading about cancer.

3

Thanks for this great information! xx

4

I had regular screening on my ovaries due to family history which included th ca 125 test. On one occasion I had a letter to say it was slightly elevated and was asked to be re tested. I was worried sick as I thought it pointed to cancer. I googled and googled and realised that other things can elevate it even where you are in your cycle. When I was re tested I was sure it would still be up as my cycle was all over the place spotting here and there. I was told that it was back to normal on the second testing thankfully. I did have a simple ovarian cyst on my ovaries so I dont know if this contributed to it or not