Serum CA125 and HE4 levels combined with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in the clinical diagnostic value of ovarian neoplasms

Objective The study aimed to assess the clinical significance of serum markers Cancer Antigen 125(CA125) and Human Epididymis Protein 4(HE4) combined with MRI in distinguishing between benign and malignant ovarian tumors. Methods Analyzing 140 patients diagnosed with pelvic masses between April 2020 and April 2023, they were categorized into 77 with malignant ovarian tumors (malignant group) and 63 with benign ovarian tumors (benign group), validated by paraffin section pathology-the gold standard. An additional 60 healthy women formed the healthy control group. Serum CA125 and HE4 levels were compared across the groups, and the diagnostic accuracy of CA125, HE4, MRI imaging, and their amalgamations was evaluated. Results Significantly higher serum CA125 and HE4 levels were observed in the malignant group compared to both the benign group and the healthy control group (P < 0.05). However, there wasn't a substantial variance between the malignant and benign groups (P > 0.05). Predicting malignant ovarian tumors preoperatively, the accuracy rates were as follows: CA125 at 72.86%, HE4 at 83.57%, MRI at 87.86%, CA125 + HE4 at 90.71%, and MRI + CA125 + HE4 at 97.14%, as per the pathological diagnosis results. Conclusion Combined with serum CA125, HE4 and MRI can effectively improve the accuracy of early diagnosis of ovarian malignant tumors and provide better medical management and treatment for patients.