ceo marker

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wanttogetwellsoon
wanttogetwellsoon Member Posts: 147
in Colorectal Cancer #1
Hi... I have primary peritoneal cancer but would like to know about a test .. a CEO ... which was done on me. Could anyone tell me what the normal range is for this test? Thanks in advance.... :)

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  • John23
    John23 Member Posts: 2,122 Member
    #2
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    wanttogetwellsoon -
    Re:
    "would like to know about a test .. a CEO "

    The "CEA marker" doesn't mean a thing by itself,
    it's simply one more "indicator" to help a physician
    determine the existence of cancer in your system.

    For many of us, CEA has no response to our cancerous or
    no cancerous condition, and can not be relied on to help
    determine anything, but they charge for the analysis anyway.

    (Like us, physicians have health and auto insurance to pay,
    but it does not cover Lexus or BMW mufflers and engine repair..

    The "normal range is between 2.5 and 5.0, but your "baseline"
    can be higher or lower anyway. It's just one of many "markers"
    that do not mean much alone.


    It's like having a Florida driver's license.... Ok, seriously... If you
    went to the doc with a sore arm and he sees a "bruise" on your
    elbow...he'll figure you bumped your arm. Unless of course you
    inform him that it isn't a bruise, it's a hicky from that date with
    the whacko with the elbow fetish...

    Don't take -single- test results too seriously!


    Best wishes,

    John
  • marqimark
    marqimark Member Posts: 242 Member
    #3
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    CEA marker
    John knows more than I do.

    My generic lab test said less than 2 for non-smokers and less than 5 for smokers.

    I finished chemo end of Oct beginning of Nov 2011 and my CEA was 2.7 then and I have been NED since.

    Though they don't mean much by themselves I was happy with my 1.3 from my labs yesterday.

    I will have CT scan in Nov, one year since the last.

    Waiting for the results can be nerve racking for the wife.

    Mark

    PS

    CEO marker--- Big Paycheck
  • herdizziness
    herdizziness Member Posts: 3,624 Member
    #4
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    CEA
    For me the CEA marker test has been excellent in letting me know where I stood with cancer, high numbers meant cancer in me was bad, the lower it got, the better the chemo was doing, after surgery, even lower, down now to 2.1 I think (forgot, it might be lower) which is well within the normal range, which can be as high as 5.0 (Usually in smokers a rate up to 5.0 is found, non-smokers is usually lower and is considered "normal" ranges both ways).
    Hope this helps.
    Winter Marie
  • buckeye2
    buckeye2 Member Posts: 428 Member
    #5
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    John23 said:

    wanttogetwellsoon -
    Re:
    "would like to know about a test .. a CEO "

    The "CEA marker" doesn't mean a thing by itself,
    it's simply one more "indicator" to help a physician
    determine the existence of cancer in your system.

    For many of us, CEA has no response to our cancerous or
    no cancerous condition, and can not be relied on to help
    determine anything, but they charge for the analysis anyway.

    (Like us, physicians have health and auto insurance to pay,
    but it does not cover Lexus or BMW mufflers and engine repair..

    The "normal range is between 2.5 and 5.0, but your "baseline"
    can be higher or lower anyway. It's just one of many "markers"
    that do not mean much alone.


    It's like having a Florida driver's license.... Ok, seriously... If you
    went to the doc with a sore arm and he sees a "bruise" on your
    elbow...he'll figure you bumped your arm. Unless of course you
    inform him that it isn't a bruise, it's a hicky from that date with
    the whacko with the elbow fetish...

    Don't take -single- test results too seriously!


    Best wishes,

    John

    You were on a roll with this
    You were on a roll with this response. Thanks for the laugh at 5 in the morning. Lisa
  • Buckwirth
    Buckwirth Member Posts: 1,258 Member
    #6
    Options
    OK, my turn
    Carcinoembryonic Antigen (CEA) is a marker for several cancers, however, it is not a reliable marker for diagnoses (like a PSA test is for prostate cancer). It is almost never used as a diagnostic tool.

    Once you have a CRC diagnoses, it is useful for most patients in tracking cancer activity, without subjecting the patient to the additional radiation of a scan.

    For instance, upon diagnoses and just prior to my first treatment, the Oncologist checked my CEA, which was somewhere just south of 40, and sent me in for a baseline scan. Four weeks later he checked the again, and it had dropped to 20, a good sign my treatment was working. Four weeks after that it was down to 3, a sure sign that the crap I was going through was somehow worth it. Four weeks more, and it was time for a scan, but CEA was taken as well, this time 1.5, and the scan came back with a 75% reduction in my tumor sizes!

    After radiation and surgery, I took a break from chemo, and CEA tests. Last April I finally got a CEA and it was back up to about 15. I put treatment off a bit longer (personal reasons) and by the end of May it was up to ~50, with a scan showing rapid growth in my lymph system.

    Since then it has been down, then up (changed my treatment schedule), and hopefully down again next time (changed my dosages).

    As such, it is a good indicator for MOST (not all, in that John is correct) patients as to tumor activity.

    The test you took was to establish a baseline. Now you can watch it, and get a pretty good idea if treatment is doing what it is supposed to do.

    Good luck,

    Blake

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