Elevated chromogranin A serum levels in ovarian carcinoma patients

BACKGROUND: The observation of neuroendocrine activity during clinical course of ovarian cancer, suggested the use of neuroendocrine serum markers to detect this tumor. AIM: To evaluate the usefulness of serum measurements of chromogranin A (CgA) in the various stages of ovarian cancer. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We measured serum concentrations of CgA and cancer antigen 125 (CA125) in 79 women at different clinical stages of ovarian cancer, enrolled between 2000 and 2007, and in a control group of 50 female volunteers. RESULTS: CgA showed increased levels in patients with ovarian cancer as compared with healthy subjects, as it has been seen for CA125 serum levels. We also observed significant increase in CgA and CA125 serum levels when comparing patients with ovarian cancer in stage I versus stage II (P < 0.001); stage I versus stage III (P < 0.001); stage I versus stage IV (P < 0.001); stage II versus stage III (P < 0.001); stage II versus stage IV (P < 0.001). In patients with ovarian carcinoma in stage IV we observed a correlation between CgA and CA125 with a difference of 0.718 (P < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: CgA serum levels were elevated in ovarian cancer and increased with the stage. Further studies are needed to elucidate the role of CgA as a prognostic indicator during treatment for ovarian cancer.