Elevated CA125 Levels in a 72-Year-Old Ethnic Indian Patient: A Diagnostic Pointer Toward Tuberculosis?

Serum CA 125 is widely used as a tumor marker for epithelial ovarian cancer. Our laboratory receives few requests for evaluation of this marker in men. In males an elevation of this marker may occur due to malignant and benign lesions of organs derived from the coelomic epithelium. However, in the absence of evidence of a neoplasm (via clinical examination and other diagnostic modalities), it is useful to consider a diagnosis of tuberculosis, particularly in regions where the disease is endemic. Herein, we describe one such case that we investigated at our medical center in Kolkata, India.