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CA125 (cancer antigen 125 or carbohydrate antigen 125 also known as mucin 16) is best known as a blood-borne biomarker for ovarian cancer. However, CA125 may also be elevated in other cancers, including those originating in the endometrium, fallopian tubes, lungs, breast and gastrointestinal tract. CA-125 can also become elevated with endometriosis, several diseases of the ovary, and pregnancy.

CA-125 is not perfectly specific or perfectly sensitive for ovarian cancer since not every patient with this form of cancer will have an elevated level in the blood. In fact, 79% of all ovarian cancers are positive for CA-125, while the remainder do not express the antigen.

Many cancers are driven by hormones in the body. For instance, breast, prostate and uterine cancers. Over the years we have developed effective blockers of hormones that drive these cancers. These blockers have found a way into common usage, particularly in breast and prostate cancers.

Race and ethnicity is a complex issue for cancer. Partly there is an impact, which is truly about ethnic origins. The first breast cancer gene to be discovered is called BRCA1 and inherited mutations in BRCA1 increase the risk of various cancers including: breast, ovarian, uterus, cervix, pancreatic, and maybe prostate cancer. About 1.5 percent of the Ashkenazi (European origin) Jewish population carries an inherited mutation in the BRCA1 gene. While this increased risk could be due to a variety of factors such as diet and cigarette smoking, a growing body of evidence suggests that a significant portion of the increased risk of cancer in individuals of Ashkenazi Jewish descent has a genetic basis. In developed societies ethnicity tends to be a surrogate for economic activity and access the treatments. So, when the issue of ethnicity is raised in North America it is very different to when it is raised in, say, Israel. Breast cancer for Afro-Americans is tends to be more associated with socio-economic issues than it does ethnicity.