Serum inhibin, activin and follistatin in postmenopausal women with epithelial ovarian carcinoma

U Menon, Simon C Riley, J. Thomas, C Bose, LW Evans, Nigel P Groome, Ian J Jacobs

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract / Description of output

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the role of serum inhibin A, inhibin pro-alphaC immunoreactivity, activin A, and follistatin in postmenopausal women with epithelial ovarian cancer.

DESIGN: Case-control study.

SAMPLE: e Serum samples from 27 postmenopausal women with epithelial ovarian cancer and 54 controls from the general population participating in an ovarian cancer screening trial.

RESULTS: Women with epithelial ovarian cancer had significantly higher serum levels of pro-alphaC immunoreactivity (P = 0.03), activin A (P = 0.004) and follistatin (P = 0.04), but not inhibin A (P = 0.13). Using the 90th centile in the control group as the cut off, pro-alphaC levels were elevated in 41% of women with epithelial ovarian cancer, while inhibin A was elevated in only 15%. Using the 95th centile as the cut off, serum pro-alphaC was elevated in only 11% of women with epithelial ovarian cancer (3/27), while activin A was elevated in 48% (11/23). Follicle stimulating hormone levels were significantly lower in women with epithelial ovarian cancer (P = 0.01). Although, inhibin-related peptides can modulate follicle stimulating hormone levels, there was no correlation between inhibin A, pro-alphaC immunoreactivity, activin A or follistatin and follicle stimulating hormone.

CONCLUSION: These data demonstrate that though there is preferential secretion of precursor forms of the alpha subunit rather than dimeric inhibin A by epithelial ovarian cancer, pro-alphaC is unlikely to be a useful tumour marker. Activin A is more commonly elevated in postmenopausal women with epithelial ovarian cancer and its role as a tumour marker in the diagnosis and screening of epithelial ovarian cancer warrants further evaluation.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)1069-1074
Number of pages6
JournalBritish journal of obstetrics and gynaecology
Volume107
Issue number9
Publication statusPublished - Sept 2000

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