CEA up a little... concern???

SharonVegas said:

Hi Joe,
The question is, how
Hi Joe,
The question is, how do you feel? I say don't get caught up in the numbers if you feel great. That's the downer about scans and tumor markers. We can feel great but as soon as we get a less than what we perceive to be a positive result, we go into panic mode. What did your Doc say? Personally, I would be thrilled with a 2. But then again my CEA is 100. Started at 33 about two years ago, dropped to 1 a year ago, shot up to 209 in September and now it's down to 100. I feel great though. So the question is, how do you feel :-)
Take care,
Ron

Doc_Hawk said:

Hey Joe
At this point, I wouldn't be overly concerned. A "normal" CEA is anything 3 and under, so a 2 is basically normal. Also keep in mind that when cancer cells die off it can create and elevated false high reading. From what I've heard, these tests cannot tell the difference between a live cell and a dead one so at a 2 you could have actually dropped so that half of those are dead cells. As Miss Kitty mentioned this is something that needs to be trended to tell if it's an anomaly or something of concern. My onc told me that while we should have some concern, we shouldn't worry until three consecutive elevated readings. Finally, remember that the CEA is ng per mL. That's a billionth of a nanogram per milliliter.

I hope that this helps.

Doc

swimmer22 said:

Joe-- I wouldn't worry as
Joe-- I wouldn't worry as you are still within the "normal" range for CEA. Mine does move up and down within the normal range from month to month and my oncologist said that is fine and to be expected.

pete43lost_at_sea said:

so joe, something a little different
if i were in your position i would be concerned and smiling.....
but remember i have been psychologically and physically challenge by the cancer and still am. but i have put to much effort in to let the little **** out of the bottle.

i would still enjoying everyday but taking obsessive and expensive action, would you expect me to take anything less.

rising cea levels, like i had for a dam year, almost to this day, freak me out. now i have found a few therapies that can reduce cea without chemo i would be back in the clinic's up to my eyeballs in infusions and tests.

so i would be on a plane to germany, but i am already here.

the strategies i would use is removab for liver, peritoneal and systemic stem cells.
and then dendritic cell to target the possibility of any lung mets.

from redoing the rgcc tumour profiles this can guide targetted infusions, i would also do this brand new immune system test where they pull your lymphocytes apart and can tell if you have active disease. from the very first cea rise, so stuff waiting 3 months to see if you got a trend. i would also good the full range of tarvalin tests to see if i am a pet false positive kind of guy as well as the tktl1 protien marker that indicates ketogenic diet would work for minimising this tumour growth. i would supplement the ketogenic diet with map, to minisise cataketic muscle loss. i would exercise and meditate and reduce stress and maximise enjoyment. even if it meant finding a new girlfriend overseas.

i had a year of cea rises and a few falls. the rises were like 10 points or 20 points and the falls were like only 1 point and of course clear scans until you got big enough tumours to see on a ct. really good pet, mri primovist and angio ct and liver ultra sound is what i would fall back on.

a different hypothesis. the concise version.
assume the worst and get a treatment plan to cover it.
the greatest risk is its the beginning of the end based on multidrug resistance.
you can test your tumour stem cells to see if they have that characteristic.
then it could be continued cea rises until treatments fail.

at some point our tumours work around vegf inhibitors, the chemo's and we are in a steady decline.

just a few options I would do, if i get into this mess again. i will never trust and relax and trust my oncologist and just sit back and grow that tumour, hoping it will be operable. in my current case, the cancer returned in the peritoneal cavity which sux.

the serious advantage of trying the range of therapies I am using now and have tried over the last year is strategy. its strategy, strategy, strategy.

I can always come home and do hardcore chemo and blow my sox off, if these alternatives fail to deliver, and rest assured i will do that. but my strategy is to use therapies that offer the best quantity and quality of life.

these therapies only exist in germany, that i have found, so thats where i am. they cost serious money. so say budget at least 200K USD for a year. if it works for me, i have proven the immune system can win. hypothetically if it works for you well you have added another interesting example to our csn colorectal community. The money i am investing, is in targetted colorectal cancer research, to save my life. but it establishes a path, albiet expensive, that i feel offers some hope and potential.

if the personalised approach works for enough of us, then maybe our government and oncologists will learn alot quicker than they would have otherwise. they are all delayed by profit and political correctness. but their are many willing volunteers, i have met them over hear. guess what, they are all alive with stage 4 and still beating the odds without chemo.

if i had the money and the disposition i would say its time to learn german. i suspect germany lost world war two, world war three was not nuclear, but cancer and the germans won it because they have a history of holist medicine. even as we speak big pharma in germany is shutting down hyperthermia and making practice difficult for oncologists and naturopath treating cancer differently.

you know my story, parts of it, i know this reply may cause some upset and frustration for some. but this is only my opinion about what i would do in a similar situation.

often my dear friend, where their is smoke , well their is fire. thats what happened in my case and i have a big fight, many of us here do also. i wish i was here a year earlier after the first cea rise. if only i knew then what i know now. but that is living in the past. in my books hoping the rise is die off or caused by inflamation or all the other possible causes of cea rise is just wishful thinking. wishful thinking that could be costly.

I repeat, that pete does not want to upset or rock the boat, but if what I am doing actually is a viable alternative and i failed to share my insights and experience then I would not be the human I am trying to be. this is my version of tough love, joe. so just think about what i have written and good luck and peace with whatever you decide regarding treatments.

hugs,
Pete