CEA went from 1.9 to 3.8 in 4 weeks--can it mean anything but recurrence?

wmcbane

My CEA just went from normal 1.9 to abnormal 3.8 over last few weeks. Seeing oncologist tomorrow, but wondered if anyone else had similar experience and it turned out NOT to be a recurrence.

I've had primary tumor & liver met resected; I have three more post-surgical chemo treatments scheduled and was feeling that maybe this was over, at least for a while. Now, I'm thinking it's going to be a continuous battle.

Thanks to everyone who posts here.

PGLGreg

That is a larger rise than
That is a larger rise than I've had (0.9 rise with no recurrence), but I do think it may possibly be benign. 3.8 isn't that high. Of course, it's not a good sign. Let us know what your oncologist says, please.

--Greg

Kerry S

A wise man once said
A wise man once said

“A person that puts one foot too far in the past and the other too far in the future does nothing but piss all over today”!

Don’t worry until you are told to.

Kerry

Unknown

Kerry S said:

A wise man once said
A wise man once said

“A person that puts one foot too far in the past and the other too far in the future does nothing but piss all over today”!

Don’t worry until you are told to.

Kerry

This comment has been removed by the Moderator

pepebcn

PGLGreg said:

That is a larger rise than
That is a larger rise than I've had (0.9 rise with no recurrence), but I do think it may possibly be benign. 3.8 isn't that high. Of course, it's not a good sign. Let us know what your oncologist says, please.

--Greg

3.8 isn't out of normal (5 is even accepted)
but once you have had a cancer, you better go to the oncologist ,is always better to prevent!
best and keep calm.

jams67

Maybe you just have an
Maybe you just have an infection or cold. CEA is not a very reliable marker.
Jo Ann

wmcbane

PGLGreg said:

That is a larger rise than
That is a larger rise than I've had (0.9 rise with no recurrence), but I do think it may possibly be benign. 3.8 isn't that high. Of course, it's not a good sign. Let us know what your oncologist says, please.

--Greg

thanks for your responses
We decided to repeat the CEA next week to see if the increased result was a trend (alarming) or a blip. If there's another increased or high result, I'll have a CT.

Here's hoping it's a blip, and I'll try not to worry til I know.

I'm assuming my question was comical because so many of you are living with much worse aspects of this dreadful disease. Reading your stories gives me considerable reassurance that I'll be around for some time. You're awesome.

Wendy

CherylHutch

CEA is just one tool... and not necessarily a reliable one
1.9 to 3.8 could be just a blip, then again, it could be an indicator, but your oncologist is correct... give it a little more time and retake the test. If it jumps again on the upwards side, then the next step would be to do the CT scan. If nothing is found on the CT scan, chances are your onc will tell you to wait another week or two and take it again. If it's still rising, then he/she may order a PET scan to see if there's any new growth, or possible growth they didn't see in previous scans that may be growing. Then again, it might be nothing other than an infection... an infection that you don't even know you have and it will clear up on it's own.

My normal CEA reading is under 2.0. If it jumps up to 3.x, it really is no need for concern but it does put us on alert because where this might be totally normal for anyone else, it is an upwards trend for me. And that is exactly what has happened to me. I had a CT scan that showed two tumours in my lungs had started growing and there's a growth of some sort in my kidney. Colon cancer does not usually spread to the kidney so this could be a new primary cancer or it could be colon cancer that has dared to spread where normal colon cancer fears to tread. My CEA jumped from 1.9 to 6.8 over the course of 3 months... and then this CT scan showed the kidney growth. So, I am now on Xeloda with the plan being that it will shrink the two tumours in the lungs and kill off any individual cells that might even be thinking of landing anywhere and starting to grow. If the kidney growth responds to the Xeloda, then we will know it is a cc met. If it doesn't respond to the Xeloda, then we can pretty much assume it is a new primary cancer... in which case we'll blast that sucker away with an RFA procedure.

So, as much as I hate the ongoing battle, the only problem I'm really experiencing is pain in the bottom of both my feet because of the Xeloda and maybe, just maybe I get tired a lot easier than I do when I'm not on chemo. But hey, if this chemo is going to kill off any potential spread, and keep the tumours that are there in control, then I'm comfortable with this. And the chemo has brought the CEA down to 5.9 and then 5.7. It has not gone back down to it's normal level yet, but my onc told me today that since it is staying roughly the same, it is considered stable... and for me not to put too much emphasis on it because we'll know more what's going on after Sept 10th when I have a CT scan to see if the chemo is working.

Cheryl

jscho

me too
I am facing a similar situation, and posted about it and research articles on CEA fluctuations in healthy individuals here:
http://coloncancersupport.colonclub.com/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=13512

I'll know soon what the picture looks like for me.

Best,
Jeremy