Tumour marker levels in patients with chronic heart failure.

BACKGROUND

Carbohydrate Antigen 125 (CA 125), a marker for ovarian cancer has been reported to increase in relation to the severity of heart failure.

OBJECTIVE

To evaluate the serum levels of CA 125 and other tumour markers, in patients with chronic heart failure.

METHODS

Blood levels of CA 125 and other tumour markers were determined in 44 heart failure patients (16 males and 28 females; age 66.3+/-6.5 years) before and after optimal medical treatment. Levels were also evaluated in 30 healthy volunteers (11 males and 19 females; age 65.7+/-9.8 years). The results in the heart failure patients were grouped according to clinical status (New York Heart Association Class). The mean duration of follow-up was 3+/-1.5 months.

RESULTS

The mean serum level of CA 125 was 81.9+/-91 in the patient group and 7.5+/-4.8 in control group (p<0.001). The mean CA 19-9 level in the patient group (16.8+/-16.6) was significantly higher than in the control group (4.5+/-2.6) (p<0.001). CA 125 levels increased as the New York Heart Association (NYHA) functional class increased (Class I/II: 17.7+/-22.4 U/ml; Class III: 99.6+/-92.1 U/ml; Class IV 136.4+/-102.8 U/ml; p<0.05). There were no significant differences in serum CA 125 and other tumour marker levels before and after optimisation of treatment. Significantly higher serum CA 125 levels were found in patients with pericardial effusion (p=0.002) when compared to patients without pericardial effusion.

CONCLUSIONS

Among the tumour markers evaluated, only CA 125 seems to be specifically related to the presence and severity of heart failure and also the presence of pericardial fluid. Therefore, measurements of CA 125 serum levels might be proposed for the serial assessment of heart failure. Whether CA 125 has a specific biological role in heart failure requires further investigation.