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CEA level

cookie64
cookie64 CSN Member Posts: 3 Member
in Colorectal Cancer #1

Has anyone had experience with CEA levels rising exponentially but CT Scans showed no evidence of disease. My oncologist has ordered a PET Scan. What happens if the PET Scan is negative? What are next steps should one take?

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Comments

  • Pomona
    Pomona CSN Member Posts: 11 Member
    #2

    I'm in almost the same situation. My CEA has been slowing going up. CT scan indicated a lymph node near my rectum looked abnormal. Had a biopsy but its inconclusive. Waiting for what next step is, other than follow up CT scan. When this first came up, my surgeon said that might try radiation - but don't know for sure yet.

    Its rough waiting to find out what the next step will be.

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  • bibliophile
    bibliophile CSN Member Posts: 104 Member
    #3

    When I was having conflicting indications from different sources, my oncologist ordered a circulating tumor DNA test to provide additional insight. It is not conclusive in its own right, but it can add another piece of information to help your medical team interpret all the results.

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  • iron9nadin
    iron9nadin CSN Member Posts: 23 Member
    #4

    I am in similar boat. My cea is rising, have a petCT scheduled in 2 weeks. I feel great and am sticking with my health regimen. I am getting results through the RGCC route. There is a check for CTC(circulating tumor cells), more accurate than CEA.

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  • B312C
    B312C CSN Member Posts: 21 Member
    #5

    I am not a doctor or a patient but I am the spouse of a long term survivor and I believe I have a decent understanding of cea after reading about it for many years. In some patients it is a useful indicator and in others it is not. Sometimes recurrence happens within a normal cea range. Cea doubling time can be an indication. From what I have seen over 15-20 generally means a high probability of recurrence if it stays elevated. For my spouse it has been pretty reliable and even when it went down it was followed by increases and recurrence. I have read a few stories of high cea without recurrence.

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  • SnapDragon2
    SnapDragon2 CSN Member Posts: 726 Member
    #6

    RGCC can you tell you so much from what chemo's or combo's would work best % wise, even down to how many cancer cells floating around per the measurement ( I forgot how they measure). They also test a variety of supplements on your cancer.

    I think bloodwork tells you what is going on long before a scan reveals it. Bloodwork is the indicator, scan is the definitive.

    As for the Signatura ctDNA testing, it not always picks up on lung mets. Mine was always zero while having mets. So, other indicators like IL-6, IL-8, ect could be add ons to bloodwork for a bigger picture in order to tackle the brewing of cancer trying to take hold as a met.

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