CEA

Hi, first off I'm wishing you well during this course of chemo. What drugs are you receiving? I finished my chemo for recurrance 3 weeks ago, and feeling pretty well. I do now have a blood clot on my lung so on warfarin and hoping it dissolves with no issues.

As far as the CEA blood test, I don't believe I have ever had that, but not sure, I may have after my breast cancer as part of my follow-up. I'll check my records. From what I know it measures a protien that is an indicator of certain cancers and used sometimes before and during treatment to measure success.

Again, thinking about you and hoping your treatment is manageable and problem free!

katheryn 

nicotianna said:

me

Katheryn - Thanks for your response!  My docs have not been aggressive w/my care.  I finally started my 1st round of chemo (cisplatin 50 mg/mm2) & 5FU standard dose 5/12/15;  6/11/15 (cisplatin 75 mg/mm2)& 5FU (4000 mg/m2).  My onc said that most pts. do not tolerate the NCCN guidlines of cisplatin 100 mg/m2.  I have tolerated the 50, & so far, the 75.  Zofran is constipating so I dealt w/constipation; then frequent loose stools.  I preferred the loose stools!  I have none of the SE's of peripheral neuropathy, ototoxicity, or kidney effects so far.  My wbc's went down a little.  My CEA also went down a few pts.....yeah!

The NCI lists Cathy Eng's novolumab clinical trial as closed.

I am happy you are doing so well.  I have been following you:)

Nic

Hi again....

I will have to check the dosage of cisplatin I was given but after the first 3 rounds my doctor lowered it for the 4th. I was really nauseas and even thogh given plenty of anti-nausea meds had a rough time though I never actually vomitted.

Constipation is a concern for us all and even with an ostomy I'd much prefer loose stools as well.....the chemo did that for me! My doctor was also concerned about ringing in the ears and hearing loss with cisplatin. I did have some ringing but it seemed only occasional and brief. If I've had any hearing loss I don't notice it!

Hang in there and be well....

katheryn

Cazz said:

CEA

From what I have read on the colo-rectal forum, CEA is a marker that is often used to monitor their recurrences.  I think the value is supposed to be under 5, mine was tested a month or two ago and it was 98!  I panicked a little and started doing some research and found people who were delighted because their count had come down from 4000 to 2500, so I thought maybe 98 wasn't so bad after all.  It's apparently not a very accurate marker and does not work for everyone and there are things that can affect the count.  Also, I read that the count often goes up during/after chemo because all those dead cancer cells get counted as well.  The main usefulness seems to be to keep an eye on NED or stable tumor patients so they can investigate further if the CEA count goes up.

I'm on Cisplatin/5-FU right now too but my monthly dose has been split into two bi-weekly doses to try and minimize side effects - that's not working too well!  The first round I vomited for hours despite all the anti-nausea meds, not a problem on the 2nd round as I ended up in hospital with chest pains and they gave me anti-nausea meds in my IV.  I saw Cathy Eng at MD Anderson in early May.  She has me on the list for the nivolumab (Opdivo) trial and when I was there she told me that they had just opened it up - however I saw on the NCI clinical trials list that it still shows as approved, not yet started.  I think it may be due to lack of suitable patients as its a pretty narrow range - must be metastatic anal squamous, must be HPV-16 positive, must have had platinum therapy (which is why I am doing that now), must be in reasonably good health and no chemo for 28 days etc.   I really don't think that there are that many of us around and of course you must be willing to travel to Houston every two weeks for the trial.

Good luck to both of you, may your side effects be few and the treatment 100% effective!

Carol

Carol

but I am curious, what is meant by "platinum therapy?"  I've seen it reference before but don't know what it is.

Thanks,

Tracey

eihtak said:

Tracey....

Hi, many people are initally treated with mytomycin/5FU but (I think) required for many clinical trials one must first be treated with cisplatin or carboplatin and 5FU.....correct me if I'm wrong.

This is from a journal article I was reading.......

Platinum-based agents are important drugs or drug candidates for cancer chemotherapy. Traditional platinum drugs including the globally approved cisplatin, carboplatin and oxaliplatin are neutral platinum (II) complexes with two amine ligands and two additional ligands that can be aquated for further binding with DNA. The platinum-DNA adducts can impede cellular process and lead to cellular apoptosis. Tumor resistance to platinum drugs has become a very challenging problem to overcome.

I was initially treated with cisplatin/5FU as well as recently for a recurrance.

Hope this helps.

katheryn

but isn't CEA only related to colo-rectal adenocarcinoma and not squamous anal carcinoma?

Laz

lp1964 said:

I'm not sure,

but isn't CEA only related to colo-rectal adenocarcinoma and not squamous anal carcinoma?

Laz

I found this info......this test may be helpful when dealing with concerns of recurrance and how you are responding to treatment for (mets) to lung or other organs.

katheryn

http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/003574.htm

This test is done to monitor the response to treatment and then to check for the return of colon and other cancers such as medullary thyroid cancer and cancers of the rectum, lung, breast, liver, pancreas, stomach, and ovaries.

It is not used as a screening test for cancer.