Nemaltsova K. Diagnostic significance of tumor-associated marker HE-4 in patients with ovarian cancer

Results of the study of 245 patients with ovarian cancer, 181 of which – with malignant tumors stage Ι-ΙV (T1-3NхM0-1), and 64 – with benign tumors, are presented in this work. Diagnostics of ovarian cancer in the initial stages is a key factor in the successful treatment of this pathology. The use of sensitive serological tumor-associated markers is considered to be the most appropriate approach for diagnosis, monitoring of treatment efficacy and preclinical detection of relapse of the disease for ovarian tumors. Based on their own clinical research, respondent developed a clinically new method for predicting the onset of ovarian cancer recurrence, which is based on the determination of the levels of expression of the tumor-associated marker HE-4 before the beginning of treatment and after the surgery. New and updated data on the sensitivity of HE-4 protease inhibitor as compared to CA-125 depending on various prognostic factors (stage, morphological form, menopausal status, ascites) were also obtained. It has been scientifically proven that determining the level of the tumor-associated marker HE-4 in patients with ovarian cancer is advisable because of its high sensitivity and specificity, which is 1.8 times higher than that of CA-125. For the first time it was determined that only the initial level of expression of HE-4 is prognostically significant for determining the timing of recurrence of ovarian cancer – the excess of 500,00 pmol/l indicates a risk of prolongation up to 1 year.