CA125 160 with clear PET/CTscan

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lenjam
lenjam Member Posts: 51
in Ovarian Cancer #1
Any thoughts on having a clear PET/CT scan but CA125 is 160? My mom had a PET/CT scan done (3 week ago) and the gyn/onc told her you have NO cancer in there. Very encouraging, right?
But her CA125 was 89 at the time and now it jumped to 160. Doctor didn't seem to concerned about it and told her she would see her in a month. However, I'm very concerned and mom is freaking out. Anyone have any thoughts on what's going on? As always thank you to each and everyone of you out there going through this terrible disease and lending such great advice.

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  • LaundryQueen
    LaundryQueen Member Posts: 676
    #2
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    Increase in CA-125
    Just curious if anyone else had the experience of the CA-125 increasing after a PET scan...could it just be an inflammatory reaction to the contrast and whatever else is given with the tests? If I were in your mother's shoes (so to speak), I would put myself in a calm state of mind and play the waiting game and see if the number comes down the next time it is checked.

    Keep in mind that there is no good blood test for cancer activity. The CA-125 goes up with intestinal & peritoneal inflammation/infection not just with cancer activity. I would look into the anti-inflammatory diet (I am sure you can find this on the Internet) until the test is done again. The half-life of the CA-125 is 4 days so it takes about a week to see the number adjust...however, I am sure that if there were a glucometer-equivalent device for checking the CA-125, we'd be checking it DAILY and really driving ourselves CRAZY!
  • Tina Brown
    Tina Brown Member Posts: 1,036 Member
    #3
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    Something similar happened
    Something similar happened to me last year. I had a CT 6 months after the end of my treatment. The CT scan showed "Stable disease" -my CA125 was 34 and I was told I had a partial response to the chemo. On the CT scan the only indication of cancer was a pocket of fluid in the "pouch of douglas" (close to the vagina and uterus)

    Anyway, my CT scan was very good and all major organs were clear, bones clear, lymph nodes clear etc. So I was relieved. A month later I have my next blood test and went back for the results. I was completely in shock my CA125 was 1288. I couldn't understand why as the CT scan was un-changed????????????

    As Laundry Queen says activity in the peritoneum and intestines may influence this. I was suffering big time from stress IBS and irregular bowels. My onc explained that in my cancer (PPC) I have tiny tiny seeds like cells that may not always show up on a CT scan.

    A CA125 in the 100's is very treatable and if it is on the rise slowly it can be caught and treated sucessfully.

    Hope things are OK soon Tina xx

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