Quality statement 2 (placeholder): CA125 blood test – age-specific thresholds
Placeholder statement
A placeholder statement is an area of care that has been prioritised by the quality standards advisory committee but for which there are currently no published NICE recommendations.
A review in 2024 of recommendations on the recognition of suspected ovarian cancer in NICE's guideline on suspected cancer has identified that recommendations on thresholds for referral following CA125 testing should be updated. This placeholder statement will be reviewed following publication of the updated NICE guideline recommendations.
Rationale
Ovarian cancer is associated with late diagnosis (around 60%of people are diagnosed at stages 3 and 4) and 30% of diagnoses were made through emergency presentation (NHS England's data on cancer incidence by stage and routes to diagnosis for 2020).
Age-specific CA125 thresholds may improve the detection of both ovarian cancer and non-ovarian cancers in people with early symptoms of ovarian cancer that can be similar to those of other pelvic or abdominal conditions (2024 exceptional surveillance of NICE's guideline on suspected cancer: recognition and referral). As such, updated recommendations are expected to determine the focus of quality improvement for recognition, referral and safety netting.