If your CA 125 test is within the normal range does that mean it is not cancer?

[littlevic]

I have just been told my CA 125 is normal so I presume this means it is benign?

[hopeshell]

I am so sorry and pray all turns out benign.  Please give us an update as soon a possible!

Hugs,

Shelly

[littlevic]

Thanks again I am off to the hospital this afternoon and I wanted to know if I still needed to be asking along the lines of treatment with regards cancer or not. As I put in my earlier post my masses are quite large so I will go armed with the right questions now.
Thank god for this forum and all of you that take the time to answer xxx

[hopeshell]

Unfortunately, the answer is no.  Only certain tumors produce the CA-125.  The test is not reliable to diagnose ovarian cancer because many benign conditions can raise it and all malignancies don't raise it.  It is better used as a tool post-dx.  If your number was raised pre-dx, then it will likely be able to show you when the tumors are being reduced or growing again.  Typically, if it was raised pre-dx, then it will greatly reduce after surgery and chemo and then tend to raise again when there is a recurrence.  Pre-dx numbers over 100 have a greater chance of being assoicated with a malignancy.  But, I have known many women with ovarian cancer who had normal CA-125s.  

If you have a complex or solid mass that is 5cm or greater, then you need to have surgical removal to determine if it is malignant.  Most turn out to be benign.  But, there is no way to know for sure without surgical removal and biopsy.  The mass should be removed intact.  For earlier stages of ovarian cancer, the mass may be the only abnormality that shows up on the scan.  Often, more advanced cases of ovarian cancer show enlarged lymph nodes, tumors in other locations and fluid.  

Both benign and malignant masses can cause complications when they are large and rupture.  So, it is important to talk to your doctor about the follow-up that is needed for your particular mass.