Your Starting CEA?

peterz54
peterz54 Member Posts: 341
in Colorectal Cancer #1
What was your starting CEA, and stage, prior to treatment?

My wife was diagnosed as Stage IV (50% liver and some lymph nodes involved) with a CEA of 1800 ng/ml. CEA dropped to 1200 after 1st chemo. these are very high values from what I gather.

So would like to know what others have seen, especially those of you who are stage IV.

thanks
«1

Comments

  • sdp
    sdp Member Posts: 181
    #2
    Cea
    Mine was 900 plus

    Sigmoid colon C with several mets to liver in all segments

    Ct/ pet scan due on march 12 th after four rounds of FOLFOX +erbitux

    Will let u know the results then
  • peterz54
    peterz54 Member Posts: 341
    #3
    sdp said:

    Cea
    Mine was 900 plus

    Sigmoid colon C with several mets to liver in all segments

    Ct/ pet scan due on march 12 th after four rounds of FOLFOX +erbitux

    Will let u know the results then

    folfox + erbitux
    I take it you must be KRAS wild type instead of mutant to be using erbitux as EGFR inhibitor. are you on Avastin as well as a VEGF inhibitor?
  • mom_2_3
    mom_2_3 Member Posts: 953 Member
    #4
    CEA
    Peter,

    I checked online at the hospital portal and these were my readings around the time of diagnosis and surgery. My CEA has run between 2.0 and 2.6 since the last reading noted here.



    11/19/2008 283.6 ng/ml (Diagnosis)
    12/8/2008 318.7 ng/ml (2 weeks after 1st treatment - FOLFOX)
    1/12/2009 270.5 ng/ml (2 weeks after 2nd treatment - FOLFOX)
    1/26/2009 164.0 ng/ml (2 weeks after 3rd treatment - FOLFOX)
    2/9/2009 102.7 ng/ml (2 weeks after 4th treatment - FOLFOX)
    2/20/09 Surgery: Liver resction, colon resection, HAI
    3/9/2009 11.8 ng/ml
    3/23/2009 5.6 ng/ml
    3/23/2009 5.6 ng/ml
    4/6/2009 3.7 ng/ml
    4/20/2009 3.6 ng/ml
    4/28/2009 3.1 ng/ml
    5/4/2009 2.6 ng/ml
    5/18/2009 2.4 ng/ml
    6/1/2009 2.5 ng/ml





    Amy
  • pepebcn
    pepebcn Member Posts: 6,331 Member
    #5
    mom_2_3 said:

    CEA
    Peter,

    I checked online at the hospital portal and these were my readings around the time of diagnosis and surgery. My CEA has run between 2.0 and 2.6 since the last reading noted here.



    11/19/2008 283.6 ng/ml (Diagnosis)
    12/8/2008 318.7 ng/ml (2 weeks after 1st treatment - FOLFOX)
    1/12/2009 270.5 ng/ml (2 weeks after 2nd treatment - FOLFOX)
    1/26/2009 164.0 ng/ml (2 weeks after 3rd treatment - FOLFOX)
    2/9/2009 102.7 ng/ml (2 weeks after 4th treatment - FOLFOX)
    2/20/09 Surgery: Liver resction, colon resection, HAI
    3/9/2009 11.8 ng/ml
    3/23/2009 5.6 ng/ml
    3/23/2009 5.6 ng/ml
    4/6/2009 3.7 ng/ml
    4/20/2009 3.6 ng/ml
    4/28/2009 3.1 ng/ml
    5/4/2009 2.6 ng/ml
    5/18/2009 2.4 ng/ml
    6/1/2009 2.5 ng/ml





    Amy

    Never been very high! l always move from 2 to 20,
    but is very sharp every time was higher than 4 there was a recurrence in there!
  • NJC
    NJC Member Posts: 73 Member
    #6
    Wife's was 56 after
    Wife's was 56 after diagnosis with 4cm tumor in ascending colon with 20 mets to liver. 28 after 5 rounds of Folfox, 5-8 after HAI pump and liver perfusion. 78 after HAI and Systemic stop. 3 - theee weeks after liver and aortic lymph node resections. Next draw next week.
  • ron50
    ron50 Member Posts: 1,723 Member
    #7
    G'day peter
    At dx mine was 2.8 at stage111c 6/13 nodes. It has never been any higher and now sits at .05 or lower. That is why cea is not used for diagnoses just to try to confirm recurrence,Ron.
  • druidshadow
    druidshadow Member Posts: 85
    #8
    my cea
    my cea at start of this is unknown after the removal of 5 out of 6 feet of my colon and before any chemo was 56.1 ng/ml i have no clue wither that is high or how high it is or what ever but i have learned that besides the mets on my liver, one of which is 6.4 cm i also have a few bone mets not sure how many there either just like the liver the doc would not give me the exact numbers. but he is leave the hospital soon and i will have a new doc so we will see.
    john
  • Nana b
    Nana b Member Posts: 3,030 Member
    #9
    druidshadow said:

    my cea
    my cea at start of this is unknown after the removal of 5 out of 6 feet of my colon and before any chemo was 56.1 ng/ml i have no clue wither that is high or how high it is or what ever but i have learned that besides the mets on my liver, one of which is 6.4 cm i also have a few bone mets not sure how many there either just like the liver the doc would not give me the exact numbers. but he is leave the hospital soon and i will have a new doc so we will see.
    john

    150 after colorectal
    150 after colorectal surgery. 34 after liver resection. 2. after all chemo. 3.5 years later 13.3. Hope it goes down.
  • smokeyjoe
    smokeyjoe Member Posts: 1,425 Member
    #10
    Nana b said:

    150 after colorectal
    150 after colorectal surgery. 34 after liver resection. 2. after all chemo. 3.5 years later 13.3. Hope it goes down.

    I have no clue what mine was
    I have no clue what mine was at diagnosis, although I am curious, I didn't have a clue what CEA was or the relevance back then. But, I don't think it was elevated as after all the tests and scans they did they really didn't suspect colon cancer at all, and I know with my first meeting with my onc. prior to surgery they were assuming it was ovarian. The blood work I had during chemo. I would ask for copies of and it would show my CEA, highest I've seen it 1.4, went to 1 then .8. I don't think it's a good marker for me. I'm stage 1V, mets to ovaries.
  • geotina
    geotina Member Posts: 2,111 Member
    #11
    CEA
    George was dignosed Stage IV, lots of large mets to liver and lungs. CEA when first measured was just uner 900 and now hovers around 14, lowest it has been in 3 years. It goes up and down and is generally tested every 4 to 6 weeks.

    Take care - Tina
  • Kenny H.
    Kenny H. Member Posts: 502 Member
    #12
    geotina said:

    CEA
    George was dignosed Stage IV, lots of large mets to liver and lungs. CEA when first measured was just uner 900 and now hovers around 14, lowest it has been in 3 years. It goes up and down and is generally tested every 4 to 6 weeks.

    Take care - Tina

    Mine was low at dx 2.5 to 3
    Mine was low at dx 2.5 to 3 but stage 3.....Mets to lungs now and last cea in jan was 8. Next scan late April will get new cea then.
  • Sonia32
    Sonia32 Member Posts: 1,071 Member
    #13
    cea
    mine was 30 before surgery
    cc stage 3 10/11 lymph nodes infected
    after surgery and since it has stayed under 3
    but you never know
  • Grace14
    Grace14 Member Posts: 65
    #14
    Sonia32 said:

    cea
    mine was 30 before surgery
    cc stage 3 10/11 lymph nodes infected
    after surgery and since it has stayed under 3
    but you never know

    Mine was 26 stage 2a RC
    Mine was 26 stage 2a RC cancer! It has been below 1.0 since surgery in 2010.
  • seek@light
    seek@light Member Posts: 26
    #15
    My mom's case
    around 200 when diagnosed; over 30 two weeks after resection of part of colon and half lobe of liver; slowly to 4.4 now after 7 cycles of FOLFOX. PET/CT scan showed some highlighted area in liver after cycle 4; then no any trace from MRI/CT after cycle 5. NED with ultrasound test in a planned liver section and second surgery was cancalled. Not sure what is really happening inside.
  • judman92
    judman92 Member Posts: 31
    #16
    seek@light said:

    My mom's case
    around 200 when diagnosed; over 30 two weeks after resection of part of colon and half lobe of liver; slowly to 4.4 now after 7 cycles of FOLFOX. PET/CT scan showed some highlighted area in liver after cycle 4; then no any trace from MRI/CT after cycle 5. NED with ultrasound test in a planned liver section and second surgery was cancalled. Not sure what is really happening inside.

    CEA
    Mine was 435 after surgery and then spiked to 675. It is now 2.7 after my 12 treatments
  • thxmiker
    thxmiker Member Posts: 1,278 Member
    #17
    CEA
    My CEA was 1125 before Chemo and 3 months after Chemo 3.86 months after 3.2. It is one of many factors to watch and not the end all. I had asked my onc what my cea was durning chemo and he asked me not to worry about it. After chemo he told me some patients cea can go very high and low when on chemo and he does not want patients to get excited about it if it rises. What is the end result is the important number.

    Best Always, mike
  • peterz54
    peterz54 Member Posts: 341
    #18
    Thank you
    to all who responded.

    I am trying to get an answer from LabCorp about the accuracy of their tests, and will also ask Quest Diagnostics who does most of my wife's CEAs. When I do I will post.
  • peterz54
    peterz54 Member Posts: 341
    #19
    duped again

    duped again
  • Semira
    Semira Member Posts: 381 Member
    #20
    peterz54 said:

    duped again

    duped again

    Thorsten startet with 95
    Thorsten startet with 95 before surgery. Now the cea ist down between 1 and 2....
    Greetings
    Petra
  • olivers14
    olivers14 Member Posts: 1
    #21
    Stage 4

    I was diagnosed in October 2011 with metatastatic colorectal cancer. My liver is completely covered with cancer lesions. My starting CEA was somewhere in the high 500's. I started 2 weeks later with a chemo regimen, containing Oxaliplatin, Avastin and Xeloda. After half a year my CEA was down to 5. At that time my oncologist stopped the Oxaliplatin (due to accumulation of side effects) and had me only on Avastin and Xeloda until October 2012. At that time my CEA had jumped from 13 to about 140. I was put back on the Oxaliplatin. In January of 2013 I became highly allergic to the Oxaliplatin. 

    I was now put on a regimen consisting of Irinotecan, Avastin and Xeloda. This was in February 2013. After 4 treatments I did not show any improvements. Just the opposite. My CEA had gone up to be over 500 again, liver metastases started to grow again. This meant that I did not respond to the current treatment regimen.

    My oncologist decided to stop all chemo immediately and to put me on antibodies using Erbitux. I was told that Erbitux will only slow down cancer growth and eventually will help to remove the Irinotecan resistance. After now only 2 treatments with Erbitux my CEA dropped 300 points from the 500's to now 231. My oncologist said that this can happen but he has not seen it very often and that I am more an exception to the rule. I am scheduled for another CT Scan in mid June to see whether the success is not only in the numbers, but hopefully also can be seen by either shrinking or disappearing metastases.

    Erbitux is working great for me. By the way I am KRAS wild.

     

    Oliver 

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