CEA - please be honest

You won’t really know anything until the CT scan results come in.  Unfortunately you will have to wait for answers.  The CEA is of course much higher since April, so there is obviously reason for concern.  The first places that get hit from Mets are indeed the liver and any surrounding area, spleen, back, lungs, it will go just about anywhere.  Try to stay calm and positive. 

When my CEA jumped from .5 to 10, I was in total shock. I felt healthier than I had in years, and was so convinced that all was well. So convinced that I paid, out of pocket, $400 to have a repeat CEA done a week after the first one. It had jumped to 19. 

It is not a good sign, though for some, a high CEA is quite normal. 

I will be honest, because you already know, it looks like it 'could' be back. Where? The liver is usually the first place, though lungs and other areas, including lymph nodes are a possibiliey. 

Mine was the liver. That was three and a half years ago, with clear scans after my liver ablation.  

It feels like the end of the world, doesn't it. But, its not. We've come a long way, and continue doing so, in the fight. 

I wish your husband all the luck. I wish most that his CEA jump is a mistake or an anomoly. But if it isn't, then move on forward. He's got you by his side. A person can go a long way on love alone. 

Keep us posted. 

Tru

it is high, but trying to guess if its back where it might be is not going to do anything but worry you more.  Back pain could be anything, my husband's returned in the liver without any pain. Like Tru said it feels like the end of the world but it's not. You just make a plan and deal with whatever it is. I find knowing it was back freed us from that stupid cea number for a bit, I hate that darn test! thinking good thoughts for you both.

A jump that high could mean possible reccurrence.  My CEA was never a factor as it always read below normal.  For people that it is an indicator, they usually tend to use this as a baseline in future CEA tests.  For mine, it didn't make a difference as mine was active and still normal.  Wait until the CT scan and see what that brings.  Since it was stage 3 it could have gone through the system depending on the treatment.  Wishing husband well.  The scan will give you better results and you can then better decide how to proceed.  It has to be difficult knowing, without discussing with husband.  You sound like a very supportive wife.  He needs that no matter what.  Big hugs to you.

Kim

My husband's oncologist said about 25% of the time, CEA does not indicate anything.  My husband's CEA actually dropped significantly while in patient with a 2nd cancerous tumor still growing.  Someone also told him that if he got the skin rash while on Irinotican that it was working.  He got the rash, all right, but it was not working.

Try to stay calm and wait for the scan, easier said than done, I know.

I'm living the high CEA situation now.  So here is what I know so far about CEA.  CEA is a protein which is expressed by solid tumors....usually.  There are also other non cancerous sources of CEA too.  CEA is metabolized out of your body via the liver.  With that said, well differentiated tumors express more CEA than poorly differentiated tumors.  This is where I feel the medical community doesn't know 100% the correlation of CEA with survivability.  Because if well differentiated tumors which are commonly accepted as a good tumor trait, then why would a high CEA be a bad thing when well differentiated tumors express more?  Of course this has to be up to a certain point as tumor load will also cause high CEA.

In my situation, I've been dealing with a CEA reading between 11.9 to 16.7 (at its highest) for the past year.  So far scans and other diagnostics have not yielded anything.  My oncologist says he thinks there's nothing going on.

With all that said, I don't want to alarm you but, I do think there is some concern warranted here.  I've read various published documents out there which state there are false positives.  CEA tests between 10 to 15 warrant an immediate retest to rule out lab error.  Another publication stated benign causes of CEAs between 15 to 20 are rare but can happen.  But with a CEA of 44, that scan is really important in figuring out what might be going on.

My husband (the one that is sick) doesn't research anything, not worried about a thing, just goes with what needs to be done, and I'm a nervous googling disaster.

HOWEVER if it I hadn't we would have missed out a few surgery options that he has had that the onco never mentioned until I asked...be brave, but

stay on the internet.

My husbands went from 2.2 to 40 in month due to a surgery unrelated to cancer. He had a hernia repaired and a colostomy reversed (at the same time).

I have read it can flunctuate with infllamation? dying tumor cells? several articles I wish I could site...or it could be what it is: a flag that

something needs to be investigated before it gets too complicated to fix. The doctors are paying attention and that's a good thing.

You can/will do whatever God needs done. That's why he threw you the ball.

lovehimso said:

stage 4

doctor called. stage 4. we don't know much else yet. masses in abdomen and pelvis, but liver and luns are clear.

i know that's not the news you weee hoping for. I hope you are meeting with the dr soon to make a plan.

lovehimso said:

stage 4

doctor called. stage 4. we don't know much else yet. masses in abdomen and pelvis, but liver and luns are clear.

So sorry to hear this. Sending you light, love, and prayers. Stay positive. I went through seven surgeries and multiple rounds of different chemo treatments. And so far (since Dec 2014) I'm in remission. Keep your faith and hope alive. Hugs.