Preoperative CA 125 is significant indicator of curative resection in gastric cancer patients

AIM: To investigate the correlation among tumor markers, curative resection, and recurrence in gastric cancer. METHODS: The patients with preoperative tumor makers [Carcinoembryonic antigen, Carbohydrate antigen (CA) 19-9, and CA 125] and elective gastrectomy between January 2000 and December 2009 at Chungbuk National University Hospital were enrolled in this study. We analyzed the relationship among the tumor makers, curative resection and recurrence, retrospectively. RESULTS: Among the 679 patients with gastric cancer, curative resection was 93.6% (n = 636) and non-curative resection was 6.4% (n = 43). The independent risk factors for the non-curative resection were tumor location and the positivity of preoperative serum CA 19-9 and CA 125 levels. After curative resection, the independent prognostic risk factors for recurrence in curative resection were gender, stage, and preoperative increased serum CA 125 level (HR = 2.431, P = 0.020), in a multivariate analysis. CONCLUSION: Preoperative CA 125 is a useful predictive biomarker for curative resection and prognostic biomarker for recurrence in gastric cancer patients.