Highly elevated serum CA 125 in a lady with ascites and retroperitoneal mass--a diagnostic dilemma.

Background: Cancer antigen 125 (CA 125), a widely used tumor marker for monitoring epithelial ovarian cancer, is also found to be raised in non-gynecological tumors and non malignant disease involving peritoneum. We report a case of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma who presented with peritoneal and pleural effusions with a very high level of serum CA 125.

Methods: Fifty four years female presented with gross ascitis, bilateral moderate pleural effusions, right retroperitoneal mass and a very high serum CA 125 level (4462.60 u/ml). She was initially evaluated to rule out ovarian malignancy but her biopsy from retroperitoneal mass came out to be diffuse large B cell non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.

Conclusions: In a female patient with ascitis with high serum CA 125 level, a differential diagnosis of lymphoma should not be overlooked unless cytology comes positive for epithelial carcinoma cells.