A 54-year-old woman undergoes cytoreductive surgery for a stage III serous cystadenocarcinoma of the ovary followed by platinum-based chemotherapy. Which serum tumor marker is most appropriate for serial monitoring of her treatment response?

• A Carcinoembryonic antigen
• B Neuron-specific enolase
• C Alpha-fetoprotein
• D CA-125 ✓

Explanation

CA-125 is a high molecular weight mucin-like glycoprotein expressed by coelomic epithelium derivatives. It is elevated in roughly 80% of epithelial ovarian carcinomas, particularly serous type, and its serial values correlate with disease burden, making it the standard marker for monitoring therapy. CEA can be modestly elevated in ovarian cancer but is neither sensitive nor specific here, and alpha-fetoprotein marks germ cell and hepatocellular tumors, not surface epithelial carcinomas.

Reference: Robbins and Cotran Pathologic Basis of Disease, 10th ed.

High-yield for: NEET PGINI-CETNExTFMGEUSMLEPLABMRCP

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