Serial serum samples of 33 patients with primary sarcoma of the uterus
were analyzed for CA 125 and frozen tissue sections of tumor from 23
patients were tested for this antigen. Before treatment, 12 of 30 eval
uable patients showed serum CA 125 levels >16 Uml-1 (40%). There was n
o relationship between serum CA 125 level and the histologic subtype.
Patients with serum CA 125 > 16 Uml-1 showed extrauterine tumor sites
in 67% of the cases versus 33% in patients with normal CA 125 determin
ations (P = 0.026). In (FIGO) stages I and II, elevated serum CA 125 l
evels prior to surgery were associated with a poor prognosis (P = 0.04
3). Patients with recurrent or progressive disease demonstrated serum
CA 125 levels > 16 Uml-1 in 14 of the 20 cases (70%). Sarcoma cells we
re completely negative for CA 125, whereas positivity was observed in
the epithelial component of mixed Mullerian tumors. The source of the
elevated serum CA 125 levels in patients with uterine sarcoma may be s
timulated mesothelial cells.