CEA going down
Deb
Comments
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CEA differences
Hi Deb,
Wow! That is great news! My "wow" was in amazement at your CEA initially being over 9,000. I haven't heard of it being that high. In comparison- a 168 is an absolutely amazing response to the chemo- that is so good!
CEA is so weird how it varies from person to person. For some, it doesn't even seem to register or show and others it goes up for nothing seen on scans, and others it goes down or stays the same when scans show cancerous activity. Very weird. I've heard how for those it is an accurate marker for- that some have very high numbers and others don't. It almost seems like the actual numbers themselves don't matter a lot- what matters is whether it's going up or coming down.
My numbers have never been anywhere near as high as yours even when I've had very intense metabolic uptake show on the PET scan and growing tumors, but it definitely goes up when I'm having new cancerous activity and down when the chemo seems to be doing its job. Most recently, mine was up just over 100 before starting a new treatment in March- which is about the highest it's ever been for me. Since starting that treatment, it's come down a few points each time it's been tested. My most recent CEA test last week showed it at 38, so I'm excited about that, too! Your response in numbers really is amazing- that's wonderful & I imagine it will continue to drop with ongoing treatment- hopefully very soon!
Take care!!
Lisa0 -
Happy for you, Lisa!lisa42 said:CEA differences
Hi Deb,
Wow! That is great news! My "wow" was in amazement at your CEA initially being over 9,000. I haven't heard of it being that high. In comparison- a 168 is an absolutely amazing response to the chemo- that is so good!
CEA is so weird how it varies from person to person. For some, it doesn't even seem to register or show and others it goes up for nothing seen on scans, and others it goes down or stays the same when scans show cancerous activity. Very weird. I've heard how for those it is an accurate marker for- that some have very high numbers and others don't. It almost seems like the actual numbers themselves don't matter a lot- what matters is whether it's going up or coming down.
My numbers have never been anywhere near as high as yours even when I've had very intense metabolic uptake show on the PET scan and growing tumors, but it definitely goes up when I'm having new cancerous activity and down when the chemo seems to be doing its job. Most recently, mine was up just over 100 before starting a new treatment in March- which is about the highest it's ever been for me. Since starting that treatment, it's come down a few points each time it's been tested. My most recent CEA test last week showed it at 38, so I'm excited about that, too! Your response in numbers really is amazing- that's wonderful & I imagine it will continue to drop with ongoing treatment- hopefully very soon!
Take care!!
Lisa
I am happy for you Lisa; it sounds like things are moving in the right direction with this latest treatment. Good for you!0 -
Lisa...lisa42 said:CEA differences
Hi Deb,
Wow! That is great news! My "wow" was in amazement at your CEA initially being over 9,000. I haven't heard of it being that high. In comparison- a 168 is an absolutely amazing response to the chemo- that is so good!
CEA is so weird how it varies from person to person. For some, it doesn't even seem to register or show and others it goes up for nothing seen on scans, and others it goes down or stays the same when scans show cancerous activity. Very weird. I've heard how for those it is an accurate marker for- that some have very high numbers and others don't. It almost seems like the actual numbers themselves don't matter a lot- what matters is whether it's going up or coming down.
My numbers have never been anywhere near as high as yours even when I've had very intense metabolic uptake show on the PET scan and growing tumors, but it definitely goes up when I'm having new cancerous activity and down when the chemo seems to be doing its job. Most recently, mine was up just over 100 before starting a new treatment in March- which is about the highest it's ever been for me. Since starting that treatment, it's come down a few points each time it's been tested. My most recent CEA test last week showed it at 38, so I'm excited about that, too! Your response in numbers really is amazing- that's wonderful & I imagine it will continue to drop with ongoing treatment- hopefully very soon!
Take care!!
Lisa
sounds very promising that your latest treatments are working for you. Do you have some weird side effects from your Gemzar?0 -
HollyHollyID said:Lisa...
sounds very promising that your latest treatments are working for you. Do you have some weird side effects from your Gemzar?
Holly,
Not any weird side effects from the Gemzar- my issues have pretty much all been with the 3,000 mg a day of Xeloda I'm taking. Gemzar, however, is hard on the platelets & mine did take a dive, so my onc reduced my gemzar dose by a third. He said if he didn't reduce it, the platelets would really crash and I'd be in a heap of trouble with bleeding all over.
Since the reduction in dosage, the dropping CEA slowed down a bit, but it is still dropping, so I'm happy.0
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