Relationship between plasma cancer antigen (CA)-125 level and one-year recurrence of atrial fibrillation after catheter ablation

Background: Previous studies have shown that plasma cancer antigen-125 (CA-125) is closely related to heart failure and new-onset atrial fibrillation (AF), but no study reported the relationship between CA-125 concentrations and advanced recurrence of AF ablation. This research is the first to describe CA-125 as a biomarker for the recurrence of AF after ablation. Methods: A total of 422 AF patients undergoing catheter ablation were included in this study. Results: During the 1-y follow-up, 326 patients (77.25%) maintained a sinus rhythm, whereas 83 patients (20.44%) presented AF recurrence. The patients with AF recurrence showed higher CA-125 concentrations at baseline than those with maintained sinus rhythm (P = 0.0001). Multivariate Cox proportional hazards regression analyses revealed that persistent AF (HR 2.212; 95% CI: 1.396-3.504, P = 0.001) and CA-125 concentration (HR, 1.003; 95% (CI): 1.000-1.005, P = 0.019) were independent predictors of AF recurrence. According to the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis, CA-125 yielded an optimal cut-off value of 11.05 U/ml, and its sensitivity and specificity reached 65.6% and 85.0%, respectively. In addition, the area under the curve (AUC) value spanned 80.3% (95% CI: 0.750-0.857, P < 0.0001). Moreover, the results of the subgroup analysis indicated that patients with persistent atrial fibrillation have higher concentrations of CA-125 and have an increased risk of the recurrence of AF. Conclusions: High CA-125 concentration is an independent predictor of AF recurrence after 1 y of AF ablation, especially in patients with persistent AF.