Is an operation necessary for prostate problems?

CA-125 is clinically approved for following the response to treatment and predicting prognosis after treatment. It is especially useful for detecting the recurrence of ovarian cancer. Its potential role for the early detection of ovarian cancer is controversial and has not yet been adopted for widespread screening efforts in asymptomatic women. The key problems in using the CA-125 test as a screening tool are its lack of specificity and its inability to detect early stage cancers. An operation would be necessary to confirm that a woman with elevated CA-125 has ovarian cancer, with the associated risk of death from major surgery. In addition, even if cancer was confirmed in such circumstances, it usually would be at an advanced stage where therapy is less effective. The goal of many cancer biologists is to develop a test that would be employed to diagnose ovarian cancer at an early stage, when the effects of therapeutic interventions are optimal.