Rising cea

cheeks964
cheeks964 Member Posts: 54
in Colorectal Cancer #1
Hello,

I was diagnosed with stage 3 rectal cancer in March. Biopsied and found in one lympth node. Had chemo/radiation in May. Had schedule permanent colostomy surgery in august. Cea was 9 before surgery and 4 after surgery. ended up having a temporary illiotomy for all the margins were available to see. Took dime size cancer out 8 ml size and found 2 of the18 lymph nodes had cancer in them, had cea on september 19th and it was 4 now on sept 28th it's 8 and i already had one round of chemo. going twice a month. drip of oxiplatin and then i leave with 5fu or two days, the pump.

All the surroundng aread that the doctor took out had no cancer in it, only the area of the dime size cancer. Why is my cea going up

So nervous and don't understand.

My 2nd treatment is tomorrow. i have a total of 8 treatments every other week.

Please advise asap.

Thank you
Carolyn or email me at cheeks917@comcast.net

Comments

  • cheeks964
    cheeks964 Member Posts: 54
    #2
    rising cea
    please reply as soon as possible...going nuts here.
  • RobinKaye
    RobinKaye Member Posts: 93
    #3
    cheeks964 said:

    rising cea
    please reply as soon as possible...going nuts here.

    Flare
    A lot of people have a rise in their CEA during chemo and it's nothing to be alarmed about. It could be something is there, though after chemorad and surgery with clear margins it's unlikely so soon. I'd vote for the chemo flare. How often are they checking your cea? My husband had his checked at diagnosis, before surgery, after surgery and after FOLFOX completed. He was not subjected to the ups and downs during chemo.
  • cheeks964
    cheeks964 Member Posts: 54
    #4
    RobinKaye said:

    Flare
    A lot of people have a rise in their CEA during chemo and it's nothing to be alarmed about. It could be something is there, though after chemorad and surgery with clear margins it's unlikely so soon. I'd vote for the chemo flare. How often are they checking your cea? My husband had his checked at diagnosis, before surgery, after surgery and after FOLFOX completed. He was not subjected to the ups and downs during chemo.

    rising cea
    Thanks for getting back to me so soon. Thank you very much.

    I had it done before surgery, surgery was 8-16 and it was 9 then September 18th it was 4 and September 28th it was 8, i've only had on treatment of oxiplatin/5fu, my second one is tomorrow.

    Please advise

    Carolyn
  • cheeks964
    cheeks964 Member Posts: 54
    #5
    RobinKaye said:

    Flare
    A lot of people have a rise in their CEA during chemo and it's nothing to be alarmed about. It could be something is there, though after chemorad and surgery with clear margins it's unlikely so soon. I'd vote for the chemo flare. How often are they checking your cea? My husband had his checked at diagnosis, before surgery, after surgery and after FOLFOX completed. He was not subjected to the ups and downs during chemo.

    rising cea
    what is chemo flare?
  • cheeks964
    cheeks964 Member Posts: 54
    #6
    cheeks964 said:

    rising cea
    what is chemo flare?

    rising cea
    this is going to drive me nuts. any other comments. robyn are you gone?>
  • Lovekitties
    Lovekitties Member Posts: 3,364 Member
    #7
    Dear Carolyn
    Please don't think no one is 'listening' it is just that most don't get on here but once a day, and with members around the world the time differences make a difference too.

    I think what was suggested about 'chemo flare' is that some patients have reported a rise in CEA during chemo, which is thought to be the dying off of cancer cells.

    While the only visible cancer may have been removed, it is not unusual for cells to still be present, hence the reason many/most do chemo.

    You are just getting started on this journey and it is way too soon to tell what is or is not working. The CEA is a good marker for some, and not others. It can also be impacted by other non-cancerous things.

    While everyone here will try to help you navigate thru this, your best source of info will always be your doctor. If something is worrying you, call him/her.

    Wishing you the very best outcome.

    Marie who loves kitties
  • RobinKaye
    RobinKaye Member Posts: 93
    #8
    Lovekitties said:

    Dear Carolyn
    Please don't think no one is 'listening' it is just that most don't get on here but once a day, and with members around the world the time differences make a difference too.

    I think what was suggested about 'chemo flare' is that some patients have reported a rise in CEA during chemo, which is thought to be the dying off of cancer cells.

    While the only visible cancer may have been removed, it is not unusual for cells to still be present, hence the reason many/most do chemo.

    You are just getting started on this journey and it is way too soon to tell what is or is not working. The CEA is a good marker for some, and not others. It can also be impacted by other non-cancerous things.

    While everyone here will try to help you navigate thru this, your best source of info will always be your doctor. If something is worrying you, call him/her.

    Wishing you the very best outcome.

    Marie who loves kitties

    Thanks Marie
    Sorry Carolyn, I just checked back in - I should have been more specific but Marie explained it well and she's also right that it could be other things. You could have some inflammation (you just had surgery) or a slight infection somewhere.

    Please try not to panic and you should talk to your doctor. I know anything can happen but it's really not at all likely that this is something bad.

    Robin
  • taraHK
    taraHK Member Posts: 1,952 Member
    #9
    CEA
    Hi Carolyn,

    I agree with what others have said. CEA can fluctuate a little; it can rise a little during treatment -- perhaps because some of the cancer cells are dying. Your numbers are not high. Try to take a longer term view -- for example, after 4 or 8 chemo treatments. And the scan results are more reliable than CEA.

    Your treatment protocol sounds very similar to what I had after I was diagnosed with Stage 3 rectal -- sounds like you are in good hands.

    Keep breathing -- in as well as out!

    Good luck to you

    Tara
  • pepebcn
    pepebcn Member Posts: 6,331 Member
    #10
    RobinKaye said:

    Thanks Marie
    Sorry Carolyn, I just checked back in - I should have been more specific but Marie explained it well and she's also right that it could be other things. You could have some inflammation (you just had surgery) or a slight infection somewhere.

    Please try not to panic and you should talk to your doctor. I know anything can happen but it's really not at all likely that this is something bad.

    Robin

    l would suggest give chemo time to work, one round is nothing
    let see what's on after 2 or 3 rounds!
    Hugs !
  • steveandnat
    steveandnat Member Posts: 886
    #11
    Hang in there
    Your count isn't too bad because it will fluctuate while getting treatments. Was your onc concerned with your cea? If they think its something out of sack yhr might order scans or run more tests. Pray this is nothing out of the ordinary. Jeff
  • cheeks964
    cheeks964 Member Posts: 54
    #12
    steveandnat said:

    Hang in there
    Your count isn't too bad because it will fluctuate while getting treatments. Was your onc concerned with your cea? If they think its something out of sack yhr might order scans or run more tests. Pray this is nothing out of the ordinary. Jeff

    rising cea
    He said no worries, could be alot of stuff, inflamation, diarea....
  • RobinKaye
    RobinKaye Member Posts: 93
    #13
    cheeks964 said:

    rising cea
    He said no worries, could be alot of stuff, inflamation, diarea....

    What'd we tell ya :-)

    Hope you're feeling better!

    Robin
  • Doc_Hawk
    Doc_Hawk Member Posts: 685
    #14
    cea
    Hi Carolyn,

    The CEA is a measurement of the a protein which is a byproduct of the cancer and it's measure in nanograms per milliliter. False high readings are not uncommon and high readings are usually not a concern until there are three consecutive increases. As has been mentioned above, dead and dying cancer cells can cause a high reading. My CEA last week took a from 219 up to 404 but we'll wait to see what the next two readings are like before deciding if there needs to be a change in treatment. By that time I'll be ready for my next PET scan which will also factor into how we proceed.

    I know that this is all pretty scary stuff and I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a bit worried about my CEA nearly doubling in only two weeks. But I do realize there are extenuating circumstances which probably contributed to the increase and my onc team and I are confident that it will come back down again in the upcoming weeks. This may be the same with your increase. Try to relax and breath easy until you get a couple more CEA reports to see if it's a trend or an aberration.

    God Bless,

    Ray/Doc

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