Luís Otavio Sarian

Preoperative Differentiation of Benign and Malignant Non-epithelial Ovarian Tumors: Clinical Features and Tumor Markers

Abstract Objective To evaluate the role of clinical features and preoperative measurement of cancer antigen 125 (CA125), human epididymis protein (HE4), and carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) serum levels in women with benign and malignant non-epithelial ovarian tumors. Methods One hundred and nineteen consecutive women with germ cell, sex cord-stromal, and ovarian leiomyomas were included in this study. The preoperative levels of biomarkers were measured, and then surgery and histopathological analysis were performed. Information about the treatment and disease recurrence were obtained from the medical files of patients. Results Our sample included 71 women with germ cell tumors (64 benign and 7 malignant), 46 with sex cord-stromal tumors (32 benign and 14 malignant), and 2 with ovarian leiomyomas. Among benign germ cell tumors, 63 were mature teratomas, and, among malignant, four were immature teratomas. The most common tumors in the sex cord-stromal group were fibromas (benign) and granulosa cell tumor (malignant). The biomarker serum levels were not different among benign and malignant non-epithelial ovarian tumors. Fertility-sparing surgeries were performed in 5 (71.4%) women with malignant germ cell tumor. Eleven (78.6%) patients with malignant sex cord-stromal tumors were treated with fertility-sparing surgeries. Five women (71.4%) with germ cell tumors and only 1 (7.1%) with sex cord-stromal tumor were treated with chemotherapy. One woman with germ cell tumor recurred and died of the disease and one woman with sex cord-stromal tumor recurred. Conclusion Non-epithelial ovarian tumors were benign in the majority of cases, and the malignant cases were diagnosed at initial stages with good prognosis. The measurements of CA125, HE4, and CEA serum levels were not useful in the preoperative diagnosis of these tumors.

Diagnostic Value of the Neutrophil/Lymphocyte Ratio, Platelet/Lymphocyte Ratio, and Thrombocytosis in the Preoperative Investigation of Ovarian Masses

Abstract Objective To evaluate the diagnostic accuracy of cancer antigen 125 (CA125) and complete blood count (CBC) parameters, such as the neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio (NLR), the platelet to lymphocyte ratio (PLR), and thrombocytosis in patients with ovarian masses. Methods The present is a retrospective study conducted at a single tertiary hospital from January 2010 to November 2016. We included consecutive women referred due to suspicious adnexal masses. The CBC and CA125 were measured in the serum of 528 women with ovarian masses before surgery or biopsy. We evaluated the diagnostic performance of the NLR, PLR, platelets (PLTs), CA125, and the associations between them. We tested the clinical utility of the CBC parameters and CA125 in the discrimination of ovarian masses through decision curve analysis (DCA). Results The best balance between sensitivity and specificity was obtained by the associations of CA125 or PLTs ≥ 350/nL, with 70.14% and 71.66%, CA125 or PLTs ≥ 400/nL, with 67.30% and 81.79%, CA125 or PLR, with 76.3% and 64.87%, and CA125 or NLR, with 71.09% and 73.89% respectively. In the DCA, no isolated CBC parameter presented a higher clinical utility than CA125 alone. Conclusion We showed that no CBC parameter was superior to CA125 in the prediction of the malignancy of ovarian tumors in the preoperative scenario.