Objective To investigate the changes of serum insulin-like growth factor-2 (IGF-2) and insulin-link growth factor binding protein-3(IGFBP-3) in the patients with ovarian cancer before and after operation,and evaluate their clinical significance.MethodsThe contents of serum IGF-2 and IGFBP-3 in 82 patients with ovarian cancer were detected by ELISA before and after operation and compared with that in health controls.ResultsThe contents of IGF-2 in the patients before operation were significantly higher than that in control group[(101.5±22.2)ng/ml,(49.3±15.6)ng/ml vs (69.6±17.7)ng/ml,(23.9±11.3)ng/ml,t＝3.74,2.85,P＜0.05].The contents of IGFBP-3[(39.8±11.1)ng/ml]in the patients before operation were significantly lower than that in control group[(55.8±19.2)ng/ml](t′＝4.49,P＜0.05).There was significant correlation between the contents with lymph node metastasis and clinical stage[(107.5±24.0)ng/ml,(41.7±16.9)ng/ml vs (91.6±17.7)ng/ml,(56.9±19.1)ng/ml;(103.4±27.2)ng/ml,(50.2±16.6)ng/ml vs (86.6±12.3)ng/ml,(41.1±17.1)ng/ml,t＝2.83,2.37,2.48,3.32,P＜0.05).The contents of IGF-2 was significantly decreased,and IGFBP-3 was significantly increased in patients after radical operation [(86.6±12.3)ng/ml,(41.1±17.1)ng/ml vs (103.2±26.0)ng/ml,(45.3±14.9)ng/ml,t′＝3.46,t＝2.67,P＜0.05].But there was no significant difference on the level of IGF-2 and IGFBP-3 before and after palliative resection(P＞0.05).ConclusionsThe contents of serum IGF-2 and IGFBP-3 are closely related to tumor invasion,metastasis and clinical stage.Dynamic determination of the contents of serum IGF-2 and IGFBP-3 may be an important index for evaluation of invasion,metastasis,efficacy and prognosis for the patients with ovarian cancer.