The utility of tumor markers CA 125, CA 15-3, and CA 19-9 in assessing the response to therapy in pulmonary and pleural tuberculosis

Canturk Tasci,¹ Sevket Ozkaya,² Bikemgul Ozkara,³ Ergun Tozkoparan,¹ Metin Ozkan,¹ Nuri Karadurmus,⁴ Muhittin Serdar,⁵ Arzu Balkan,¹ Hayati Bilgic<sup>1

1</sup>Gulhane Medical Faculty, Department of Pulmonary Diseases, Ankara; ²Dr Suat Seren Education and Research Hospital for Chest Diseases and Thoracic Surgery, Department of Pulmonary Medicine, Izmir; ³Department of Pulmonary Diseases, Military Hospital, Diyarbakir; ⁴Gulhane Medical Faculty, Department of Medical Oncology, Ankara; ⁵Gulhane Medical Faculty, Department of Biochemistry, Ankara, Turkey

Aim: Both of the diagnosis and treatment evaluation are time-consuming conditions in patients with pulmonary and pleural tuberculosis. The aim of this study was to establish the validity of tumor markers CA 125, CA 15-3, and CA 19-9 in the diagnosis of pulmonary and pleural TB and to verify the success of the treatment protocol.
Patients and methods: The levels of tumor markers CA 125, CA 15-3, and CA 19-9 were measured before and after treatment in 67 TB patients, 54 of whom had pulmonary TB and 13 of whom had pleural TB. All values were compared with the results of a healthy control group of 44 subjects.
Results: CA 125 and CA 15-3 levels were significantly high when compared with those of the healthy control group and there was a significant decrease in both tumor marker levels after treatment in patients with pulmonary TB (P < 0.001 and P < 0.004, respectively). However, the difference found in CA 19-9 levels before and after treatment in patients with pulmonary TB was not statistically significant (P < 0.08). When the CA 125, CA 15-3, and CA 19-9 values of the pulmonary TB group before treatment were compared with that of the healthy control group, the results were statistically significant in all parameters except CA 19-9 (P < 0.001, P < 0.001, and P < 0.09 for CA 125, CA 15-3, and CA 19-9, respectively). In the patients with pleural TB, CA 125, CA 15-3, and CA 19-9 values did not change significantly after treatment.
Conclusion: The authors suggest that CA 125 and CA 15-3 tumor markers may be important for verification of the success of treatment protocol in pulmonary TB, as the differences found for these tumor markers between the pre- and the posttreatment periods are statistically significant.

Keywords: TB, evaluation, treatment efficacy, tumor marker