CEA up after 3 rounds of chemo. Help!

Miss_Kate

Sorry this is so long. Wanted to give you all complete info.

My father was diag. Stage III in June 1998. Had resection, 7 out of 26 lymph nodes positive.

Did 6 mos. of chemo - continuous infusion 5FU and levamisole.

NED for over 4 yrs. Jan. 2002 - diagnosed with prostate cancer - gleason 7 (agressive). Did 5 mos of radiation and 1 yr of Lupron shots. PSA is undectable.

Shortly after finishing his radiation is CEA started climbing.
Did PET and CT scans. Finally found two small nodules in base of left lower lobe of lung.

Did a lobectomy in Jan. 2003 (CEA at 21 just prior to surgery.)

3 wks post-op his CEA was 10. 6 wks post-op CEA at 15.
Did another CT scan (end of March '03)- found a 1 cm lesion at base of remaining lobe in left lung, small indeterminate spots in upper right lung.

Nothing in liver.
4/1/03 CEA 22.7, started chemo on 4/8/03 - 5FU, leukovarian and CPT11. Once a week for 4 wks, 2 wks off.

After 3 chemo sessions - 4/29/03 - CEA is now at 28.2, up 6 pts after 3 sessions. Dad had his 4th session of chemo yesterday after the blood was drawn.

He feels good, looks great, continues to go to the gym. Uses his incentive spirometer (breathing exerciser & can get between 2000 and 2500 mls each time). Dr. says that is great.
Dad will be 76 at the end of June.
Worried though that the chemo may not be working given his rising CEA. Dr. said to return in 3 wks - Dad's original 2 wks off, then 3rd wk he'd start another round of chemo.

We are being treated at Barnes Jewish hospital in St. Louis - Siteman Cancer center.

Is it time to go to Mayo or another cancer center?

Help!!!!

lancelot14466

Hello Miss Kate. My husband has stage 4 colon cancer with mets to the liver. He had surgery in March of last year and is doing fairly well except for the fatigue. He still gets 5fu and leucovorin every week. I know that he started out with 5 spots on his liver and after chemotherapy he went down to 3 spots but not before his CEA had jumped and I was told that sometimes when the CEA jumps, its called an "event" meaning maybe one or more of the smaller spots have "exploded" due to the chemo killing them and the circulation in the body causes the CEA to jump. I know how erratic the CEA marker can be and our doctor has told us he concentrates on the liver values more than he does the CEA markers. Since your dad seems to be doing well I would just enjoy the ride for now. Science is never exact. This is only our experience for what its worth.

Miss_Kate

lancelot14466 said:

Hello Miss Kate. My husband has stage 4 colon cancer with mets to the liver. He had surgery in March of last year and is doing fairly well except for the fatigue. He still gets 5fu and leucovorin every week. I know that he started out with 5 spots on his liver and after chemotherapy he went down to 3 spots but not before his CEA had jumped and I was told that sometimes when the CEA jumps, its called an "event" meaning maybe one or more of the smaller spots have "exploded" due to the chemo killing them and the circulation in the body causes the CEA to jump. I know how erratic the CEA marker can be and our doctor has told us he concentrates on the liver values more than he does the CEA markers. Since your dad seems to be doing well I would just enjoy the ride for now. Science is never exact. This is only our experience for what its worth.

Thanks Lancelot14466. I hope that is the case for Daddy. I just do not feel comfortable with the fact that the CEA is up, and now it'll be 3 wks before we see the Dr. again. I've called the Dr.'s office back and left a message saying I think we need to see him before the 3 wks are up to discuss the plan of action and possible referral to another cancer center. We'll see what they say when I hear back from them.

Thanks again, & God bless you and your husband.
I also have my Dad on vitamins (Dr. knows about them) and iron pills. He's had no fatigue at all. Please e-mail me privately if you want the list of vitamins I have Dad on.

Thanks again,
Miss Kate

kjm1970

CEA keeps rising

Hello group.  My mother was diagnosed in October 2017 with stage 4 colon cancer with a huge tumor in her cecum with mets to the liver (70% riddled with tumors) and with signs showing to have spread to lymph nodes and to the back of her abdomen.  My mother was put on a 12 week chemo protocol but after 4 treatments there was nothing happening. He then changed diagnosis from possibly 2-3 years to now 3-6 months.  Surgery is out of the question. Turns out she also has KRAS mutation which I understand is very common (30-40% of diagnosis' have it)  So doctor went to secondary protocol.  Before each chemo there is of course the blood work.  Her CEA started in Oct at 600 increasing to now over 7500.  Being a neophyte with all of this, I am trying to not focus so much on the CEA levels but its impossible not to.  While my mother focuses on the good (her hemoglobin) I am hearing the opposite by reading between the lines from what the Dr is saying.  I find him to be very ambiguous where he won't straight come out and say that she is dying and to expect the best put prepare for the worst.  She is also malnourished as her albumin is 2.4 and she cannot allow herself to eat hi caloric foods as the Dr has instructed her because her whole life she has been organic. Meanwhile, she needs 3000 calories a day just to keep her from third spacing and having edema. 

Sorry for the rambling.  Back to the CEA. My mother has had 8 rounds of chemo with each blood test showing no improvements other than hemoglobin here and there.  In just in the last 2 chemos her CEA has jumped from 4300 to now 7543.  My mother has decided to stop chemo for a month as she is just so weak and wants a break. She is in no pain, has lost 35lbs (shes 5'3") and has her good days and bad days.   I am taking this as the possible death knell for her as the month off of chemo may make her feel better for the short term but I feel her incredibly aggressive cancer as her Dr calls it will just spread so rapidly that its game over.  

 

Should I just not pay attention to the CEA levels and hope for the best?  

 

Again, sorry for the rambling..

 

Kyle

Trubrit

Hello Kyle

I am sorry you have found yourself on the foum, and so very sorry for your mum.

My suggestion would be to ignore the CEA, support your mother in all of her choices, enjoy every moment with her, and be greatfal that she feels well and see how the dice fall. 

I won't lie and say all will be well, as your mum's prognosis looks bad, but the human spirit is strong, so much stronger than we could ever imainge and your mum may just beat the odds and kick the Cancer hard. It may mean a life time of treatments, if she chooses. Of course, chosing not to do treatment may be what she will go with, and your love and support will of utmost importance. 

I hope she is able to get the nourishment that her body so desperatly needs.  

I have never heard of 'third spacing'. 

May I suggest you start a new post, as this thread is 15 years old.  Here is the forum home page https://csn.cancer.org/forum/128

Tru