Usefulness of CA 15-3 for breast or ovarian primary sites in metastatic adenocarcinoma of pleural fluid

This study was conducted to evaluate the diagnostic value of CA 15-3, mammaglobin, c-erbB-2, estrogen receptor (ER), progesterone receptor (PR), CK 20, and CA 125 for detecting metastatic breast and ovarian carcinoma in pleural fluids. The material under study consisted of 26 pleural effusions from invasive breast and ovarian cancer patients from the Hannover Cytopathology Institute. Expressions of these markers were studied using immunocytochemistry. All of the breast cancer cases studied showed a positive reaction with CA 15-3, while only 36% with mammaglobin, 21% with c-erbB-2, 36% with ER, and 7% with PR were positive. The sensitivities of CK 20, CA 15-3, and CA 125 as markers for metastatic ovarian carcinoma were 43%, 88%, and 55%, respectively. Our results indicate that CA 15-3 has a higher sensitivity than other tumor markers for diagnosing metastatic breast and ovarian carcinoma in pleural fluids.