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rising CEA, clear CT, scared

traci43
traci43 CSN Member Posts: 771 Member
edited March 2014 in Colorectal Cancer #1
Hi there - I'm a stage IV colon cancer patient. First surgery June-07 removed 1 in tumor in colon, ovaries (both had tumors) and omentum which had tumors (1 positive lymph node out of 20+). Had a hysterectomy along with it--no tumors there. Went 12 rounds with FOLFOX and Avastin, minimal side effects. All clear December'07, CEA between 1 and 2. In Oct'08 CEA started rising, by Dec'08 up to 6 and PET Scan showing 3 tumors. Had 8 rounds of FOLFOX no Avastin while fighting for surgery. Had surgery & HIPEC in June'09. They only found three tumors in a left over bit of momentum from the original surgery, so we think there was nothing new happening. Still I had 6 more rounds of FOLFOX no Avastin after, just in case. CEA dropped back down to 1.9 (Jan'10). Now it's up to 4.3 (July'10) but June'10 CT Scan was clear.

Anyone with CEA rising after chemo is done but not had tumors? Very scared. PET Scan was ordered, should have it it a couple of weeks. I don't want to have cancer again.
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Comments

  • PGLGreg
    PGLGreg CSN Member Posts: 731
    #2
    300%
    My CEA went up 300% at one point, but it turned out to be nothing. I'm not saying you shouldn't worry, but your 4.3 score really isn't all that high. You might be okay.

    --Greg
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  • AnneCan
    AnneCan CSN Member Posts: 3,673 Member
    #3
    PGLGreg said:

    300%
    My CEA went up 300% at one point, but it turned out to be nothing. I'm not saying you shouldn't worry, but your 4.3 score really isn't all that high. You might be okay.

    --Greg

    Hey Greg,
    If you don't mind
    Hey Greg,

    If you don't mind me asking, was this during chemo that yours went up? I just found out mine has increased while on chemo + I am going to have a CT scan in a few weeks to see what is happening.
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  • PGLGreg
    PGLGreg CSN Member Posts: 731
    #4
    AnneCan said:

    Hey Greg,
    If you don't mind
    Hey Greg,

    If you don't mind me asking, was this during chemo that yours went up? I just found out mine has increased while on chemo + I am going to have a CT scan in a few weeks to see what is happening.

    After chemo.
    No, mine went up after chemo. I had chemotherapy (just 5fu+leucovorin) 01/06 - 02/06. Then
    (from when I started keeping a record), my CEA scores were:

    07/07 1.2
    01/08 0.7
    03/08 0.7
    06/08 1.2
    09/08 0.4
    01/09 <0.4
    06/09 1.2
    09/09 1.2
    12/09 1.3
    03/10 1.1
    06/10 1.2
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  • traci43
    traci43 CSN Member Posts: 771 Member
    #5
    PGLGreg said:

    After chemo.
    No, mine went up after chemo. I had chemotherapy (just 5fu+leucovorin) 01/06 - 02/06. Then
    (from when I started keeping a record), my CEA scores were:

    07/07 1.2
    01/08 0.7
    03/08 0.7
    06/08 1.2
    09/08 0.4
    01/09 <0.4
    06/09 1.2
    09/09 1.2
    12/09 1.3
    03/10 1.1
    06/10 1.2</p>

    mine were similar12/28/09
    mine were similar
    12/28/09 1.3 - last chemo
    2/10 0.9
    3/10 1.2
    4/10 1.9
    5/10 2.3
    6/10 2.4
    7/10 4.3

    It's killing me waiting for the PET Scan.

    Last time the cancer recurred I was only at 6.0 when things showed up on the PET Scan.
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  • traci43
    traci43 CSN Member Posts: 771 Member
    #6
    AnneCan said:

    Hey Greg,
    If you don't mind
    Hey Greg,

    If you don't mind me asking, was this during chemo that yours went up? I just found out mine has increased while on chemo + I am going to have a CT scan in a few weeks to see what is happening.

    Anne - I've read lots about
    Anne - I've read lots about that and going up during chemo seems fairly common. Happened to me went from 1.4 to 2.3 then back to 1.6 around round 9 or 10. they say it's from so many dead cancer cells in the blood. I hope it's nothing and your CT is clear.
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  • AnneCan
    AnneCan CSN Member Posts: 3,673 Member
    #7
    PGLGreg said:

    After chemo.
    No, mine went up after chemo. I had chemotherapy (just 5fu+leucovorin) 01/06 - 02/06. Then
    (from when I started keeping a record), my CEA scores were:

    07/07 1.2
    01/08 0.7
    03/08 0.7
    06/08 1.2
    09/08 0.4
    01/09 <0.4
    06/09 1.2
    09/09 1.2
    12/09 1.3
    03/10 1.1
    06/10 1.2</p>

    Thanks Greg.

    Thanks Greg.
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  • tootsie1
    tootsie1 CSN Member Posts: 5,044 Member
    #8
    Hope it goes well
    I didn't have chemo, so I can't speak to your situation, but I hope you will get wonderful results from the PET scan.

    *hugs*
    Gail
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  • AnneCan
    AnneCan CSN Member Posts: 3,673 Member
    #9
    traci43 said:

    Anne - I've read lots about
    Anne - I've read lots about that and going up during chemo seems fairly common. Happened to me went from 1.4 to 2.3 then back to 1.6 around round 9 or 10. they say it's from so many dead cancer cells in the blood. I hope it's nothing and your CT is clear.

    Thanks so much, Traci + I
    Thanks so much, Traci + I hope all goes well for you.
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