Re: Gratuitous CA-125 levels

From: Arthurfree@aol.com
Thu Oct 3 16:00:01 1996


In a message dated 96-10-03 10:39:15 EDT, you write:

>
>Someone please correct me on this, but it is my impression that the _only_
>tumor marker appropriate for screening asymptomatic patients is prostate
>specific antigen. If I am correct on this, I don't understand why I
>continually see Avogadro's number of CA-125's ordered on so many
>asymptomatic patients. ;)
>
>Ed
>

Ed, Sorry to disappoint you, but the PSA is still controversial as well. It does a fair job of finding prostatic cancer (though there is still a large overlap of false positive/false negative results, it is not yet an ideal screening test). Problem is, the population that will benefit (if any) from aggressive therapy of prostate Ca has yet to be determined. There's a very good evidence based discussion in the new Guidlines for Preventive Services manual.

Arthur Freeland Warrensburg Missouri





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