KRAS AND CEA UP - HELP PLEASE !

fighting_ big_c
fighting_ big_c Member Posts: 64
in Colorectal Cancer #1

Deep breath. Today we got the result of my mom's CT scan. My mom's oncologist stopped by for a little to inform us that the CT scan came back clear. She had a fellow MD intern that talked to us and mentioned that my Mom is positive for KRAS Mutation. I have come across the terminology but did not really bother knowing about it since nothing was mentioned that my mom has it. Can someone please enlighten me about this? The intern mentioned about limited chemo treatments but did not really expound on it.

Another thing is prior surgery, mom's CEA is 189. Post surgery it was 8.4. Beginning 3rd cycle (2 weeks ago) it went down to 6.4 then just today, her CEA is back up again to 8.2. Honestly I got concerned about it. KRAS mutant and CEA level up? I am scared Cry

 

Comments

  • Lovekitties
    Lovekitties Member Posts: 3,364 Member
    #2
    KRAS and CEA

    It is my understanding that those who are KRAS mutant have fewer chemo options available to them.  Apparently some chemos are not effective with this present.

    A single relatively small upswing in CEA in not necessarily significant, since CEA can show as elevated due to other issues.  Unless there is a spike, most docs don't seem to be concerned unless there is a steady trend up.

    Hopefully things will continue to go well for your mother.

    Marie who loves kitties

  • renw
    renw Member Posts: 282 Member
    #3
    KRAS mutants do not respond

    KRAS mutants do not respond to agents targeting EGFR. Basically what it means is that your chemo options are more limited. You will not be able to use panitumumab (Vectibix®) and cetuximab (Erbitux®). It is also important to know what the specfic KRAS mutation is. Latest  research shows that some mutants can still benefit from EGFR. With G12D kras mutation you are out of luck, with others like G13, EGFR agents may be used.

  • Phil64
    Phil64 Member Posts: 838 Member
    #4
    MRI advice

    I did have a rising CEA. The CT Scans showed all clear. My onc was persistent in looking for the source of the rising CEA and, lucky for me, ordered an MRI of the abdomen. The MRI showed two liver mets while the CT continued to show a healthy liver. The short of it all is that I ended up having a Liver resection and my latest CEA tested 1.1. 

    If CEA continues to rise I would ask about an MRI.

    Good luck and God Bless you and your mother.

    Phil (blog: http://pscamihorn.me)

     

  • coloCan
    coloCan Member Posts: 1,944 Member
    #5
    renw said:

    KRAS mutants do not respond

    KRAS mutants do not respond to agents targeting EGFR. Basically what it means is that your chemo options are more limited. You will not be able to use panitumumab (Vectibix®) and cetuximab (Erbitux®). It is also important to know what the specfic KRAS mutation is. Latest  research shows that some mutants can still benefit from EGFR. With G12D kras mutation you are out of luck, with others like G13, EGFR agents may be used.

    Kras G13D mutation-as long as you do not also have a

    PIK3CA helical domain mutation with it,vectibix or erbitux may work.....

  • fighting_ big_c
    fighting_ big_c Member Posts: 64
    #6
    Phil64 said:

    MRI advice

    I did have a rising CEA. The CT Scans showed all clear. My onc was persistent in looking for the source of the rising CEA and, lucky for me, ordered an MRI of the abdomen. The MRI showed two liver mets while the CT continued to show a healthy liver. The short of it all is that I ended up having a Liver resection and my latest CEA tested 1.1. 

    If CEA continues to rise I would ask about an MRI.

    Good luck and God Bless you and your mother.

    Phil (blog: http://pscamihorn.me)

     

    Thank you

    Thank you all for your share of feedbacks. 2 point spike in CEA? Isn't that too fast? Do this thing really happen? I am trying my best not to show that I am scared as my mom would feel down if she sees it in me.

  • fighting_ big_c
    fighting_ big_c Member Posts: 64
    #7
    Phil64 said:

    MRI advice

    I did have a rising CEA. The CT Scans showed all clear. My onc was persistent in looking for the source of the rising CEA and, lucky for me, ordered an MRI of the abdomen. The MRI showed two liver mets while the CT continued to show a healthy liver. The short of it all is that I ended up having a Liver resection and my latest CEA tested 1.1. 

    If CEA continues to rise I would ask about an MRI.

    Good luck and God Bless you and your mother.

    Phil (blog: http://pscamihorn.me)

     

    Thank you

    Thank you all for your share of feedbacks. 2 point spike in CEA? Isn't that too fast? Do this thing really happen? I am trying my best not to show that I am scared as my mom would feel down if she sees it in me.

  • renw
    renw Member Posts: 282 Member
    #8
    fighting_ big_c said:

    Thank you

    Thank you all for your share of feedbacks. 2 point spike in CEA? Isn't that too fast? Do this thing really happen? I am trying my best not to show that I am scared as my mom would feel down if she sees it in me.

    My CEA has been rising by

    My CEA has been rising by 300-500 points every 2 weeks for the last 7 months, currently at 3300, so no a 2 point rise is nothing.

  • Phil64
    Phil64 Member Posts: 838 Member
    #9
    fighting_ big_c said:

    Thank you

    Thank you all for your share of feedbacks. 2 point spike in CEA? Isn't that too fast? Do this thing really happen? I am trying my best not to show that I am scared as my mom would feel down if she sees it in me.

    CEA fluctuation

    My understanding is that CEA can be different in everyone. In a lot of colon cancer cases the CEA level will correlate with cancer activity (not true in everyone).  In my case the CEA level did seem to correlate strongly with cancer activity.  E.g. after surgeries where cancer was removed my CEA dropped.  And with some treatment it was rising -- suggesting that the treatment was ineffective.  And in other treatment the CEA dropped significantly -- suggesting that treatment was very effective.  Also, I credit CEA testing for recent success in my cancer battle.  The fact is that CT Scans were showing healthy organs and no metastisis.  Also, PET Scans were not showing uptake.  But because of rising CEA levels my oncologist kept searching for the cancer and finally on an MRI of the abdomen two tumors in my liver were revealed (they didn't show up on multiple CT scans).  Now after a liver resection my CEA has tested the lowest it has been in over a year.

    Given the strong correlation to cancer in my case I've been tracking it regularly.  You can see the graphic of every test on my blog (http://pscamihorn.me/cea-history/).

    I also experienced a large fluctuation (from 40 to 20) between chemo treatments and the MRI discovering the tumors.  This was unexplained...  Other than that fluctuation there generallly seemed to be trends.

    Here is a link to CEA information on University of Michigan Health Care web site:

    https://www.healthwise.net/myuofmhealth/Content/StdDocument.aspx?DOCHWID=hw3988&f=myuofmhealth

    You can click the link in the lower right corner to scroll through other info about what CEA is...

    Phil

     

  • traci43
    traci43 Member Posts: 773 Member
    #10
    fighting_ big_c said:

    Thank you

    Thank you all for your share of feedbacks. 2 point spike in CEA? Isn't that too fast? Do this thing really happen? I am trying my best not to show that I am scared as my mom would feel down if she sees it in me.

    is your mom getting chemo?

    If so CEA has been know to rise as the cancer cells die off, so it's possible that's what it is. 

    I too am KRAS positive, but I am approaching 6 years with 3 recurrances and possibly a fourth, not sure right now.  Yes there are fewer chemo choices, but the main ones-5-FU, Xeloda, Irinotecan and Oxyliplatin are still very good. 

    It's natural to be scared, cancer is a big deal.  Take care of your Mom and I hope she does well.  Traci

     

     

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