CEA rising but no cancer detection

John23 said:

CEA Fear Extinguisher, Inc.

Some info………..

Non-malignant conditions which may have elevated CEA include:

• Non-malignant liver disease, including cirrhosis, chronic active hepatitis, viral hepatitis and obstructive jaundice.
• Chronic kidney disease.
• Pancreatitis.
• Inflammatory bowel disease.
• Irritable bowel syndrome.
• Diverticulitis.
• Respiratory diseases - eg, pleural inflammation, pneumonia.
• Smoking.

From: http://patient.info/doctor/carcinoembryonic-antigen-ceahttp://patient.info/doctor/carcinoembryonic-antigen-cea

 

=====================================================

 

Table. Distribution of CEA
Subject Group	No. of Subjects	% with CEA in Indicated Range
		0-2.5 ng/mL	2.6-5.0 ng/mL	5.1-10.0 ng/mL	10.0-20.0 ng/mL	>20.0 ng/mL
Healthy Subjects
Non-smokers	225	98	2	0	0	0
Smokers	150	87	8	5	0	0

From: http://www.questdiagnostics.com/testcenter/testguide.action?dc=TH_CEA

 

=====================================================

Higher than normal CEAlevel alone cannot diagnose a new cancer. Further testing is needed.

An increased CEA level may also be due to:

• Liver and gallbladder problems, such as scarring of the liver (cirrhosis), or gallbladder inflammation (cholecystitis)
• Heavy smoking
• Inflammatory bowel diseases (such as ulcerative colitis or diverticulitis)
• Lung infection
• Inflammation of the pancreas (pancreatitis)
• Stomach ulcer

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

======================================================

Your physician should schedule a full exam to determine what else you may be suffering from that has gone unnoticed. All too often we suffer from “small things” and feel they are insignificant to our overall health, since we are busy and otherwise feeling fairly healthy. That’s where ignoring the problem and taking an aspirin or pain killer can do us more harm than good.

Our body provides us with all we need for survival, when we ignore the signals of a problem, we suffer the consequences dearly.

You’ll do OK if you find out what’s up -now-. Don’t put it off; don’t take -0- for an answer.

Be well.

 

Great information for all of us. 

 Tru

The initial post is almost 2 years old, but I'd like to comment and share my own experience.

I am doing complete checkup yearly since I am 30 yo. For almost 10 years it was just a formality, all results always came perfectly normal. Two years ago, I was only 39 yo, I had the good (or wrong) idea to upgrade the check-up package, including several tumor marker and other stuff as they recommend here for men of 40+. The results came with elevated level of CEA (20.8 ng), all the rest was normal. During the review the doctor alerted me on this level and advised in the report to consult a GI specialist for proper management. Which I did immediately. The GI specialist told me that elevated level of CEA alone does not prove the presence of a cancer, so no panic, however after telling me that other factors including smoking and begnin conditions may increase the level of CEA, he still confirmed that this level is abnormal, a bit too high to be explained by my smoking habits. I have been given two option, wait 3-6 months and test again to see the trend, or do with no delay a gastro- and colono-scopy to search for the presence of something wrong. I am not particularly hypochondriac, but I did not feel like waiting 6 months with a cancer possibly speading within my body to confirm a trend, I went for the gastro- and colono-scopy the following week. Results, nothing (visible) except stomack and intestin irritation, thank you. I was only half reassured, in one hand there was no visible cancer there and the rest of my check-up was clear, in other hand this level of CEA remain as a stain on my report and no explaination. I did not check-up last year, maybe related or not (health issues are not the the only problems life offers you) but I show those results to another doctor in my home country. In Europe the tumor markers are not commonly included as part of check-up (as it is in Asia) and the doctor told me that this is the reason why, but he still advise me to check it again since I have a suspicious results. I did a recheck last week, hoping that it will now be normal, but my CEA level is still elmevated, but slightly lower (14.7 ng), no occult blood in the stools, no other sign of any particular problem. Since I quit smoking, the abnormal results cannot be attributed to cigarettes this time. So what to do next? no idea. I think it would be ridiculous to do again a gastro- and coloscopy, after only two years. Also, the value is lower than 2 years ago, if it was the sign of a cancer, wherever it is, I guess it would have increased...

This is the paradox of the complete check-up, they measure plenty of markers that are supposed to help early detection of cancer, but when a results comes abnormal, they tell you that it doesn't mean you have a cancer, and that you should just monitor it... What is the benefit of measuring such marker if the only action is to monitor it until you get other symptoms?

Personally I think we are at a verge of early detection of cancer. Probably in a near future, combination of those markers and other non-invasive tests will be able to confirm or rule-out the presence of a cancer, that will be truely early detection, with better survival chances. But today, we are still far from this, most markers are not specific enough, and their correlation with the development of a cancer are even too uncertain to even justify a lot more investigation if there is no other sign of disease. The benefir of measuring such marker in a check-up is therefore very discutable, and it generate a lot of tress and cost to patients, for probably little or no benefit in term of early detection and treatment success.

I am not yet 41, apparently heathy, having a relatively good hygien of life, not particularly at risk of cancer, but I am now living with that impression that a cancer is developping somewhere in my body, marking in my blood, but still undiscovered or invisible at this stage. That's a pain in the **** (more than the colonoscopy) cause it obviously does not help me to prevent this hypothethic future disease, but it waste my present feeling of being healthy. Any pain in the stomack or intestines, any diarrheas or constipation, become suddenly suspicious and worrisome, while I would have even not consider it before. I wish I never did this test and just keep monitoring usual check-up, but now I have this result on the table, I have no other choice than monitor it, and I am getting totally hypochondriac.

gpa said:

Tumor markers and checkup

The initial post is almost 2 years old, but I'd like to comment and share my own experience.

I am doing complete checkup yearly since I am 30 yo. For almost 10 years it was just a formality, all results always came perfectly normal. Two years ago, I was only 39 yo, I had the good (or wrong) idea to upgrade the check-up package, including several tumor marker and other stuff as they recommend here for men of 40+. The results came with elevated level of CEA (20.8 ng), all the rest was normal. During the review the doctor alerted me on this level and advised in the report to consult a GI specialist for proper management. Which I did immediately. The GI specialist told me that elevated level of CEA alone does not prove the presence of a cancer, so no panic, however after telling me that other factors including smoking and begnin conditions may increase the level of CEA, he still confirmed that this level is abnormal, a bit too high to be explained by my smoking habits. I have been given two option, wait 3-6 months and test again to see the trend, or do with no delay a gastro- and colono-scopy to search for the presence of something wrong. I am not particularly hypochondriac, but I did not feel like waiting 6 months with a cancer possibly speading within my body to confirm a trend, I went for the gastro- and colono-scopy the following week. Results, nothing (visible) except stomack and intestin irritation, thank you. I was only half reassured, in one hand there was no visible cancer there and the rest of my check-up was clear, in other hand this level of CEA remain as a stain on my report and no explaination. I did not check-up last year, maybe related or not (health issues are not the the only problems life offers you) but I show those results to another doctor in my home country. In Europe the tumor markers are not commonly included as part of check-up (as it is in Asia) and the doctor told me that this is the reason why, but he still advise me to check it again since I have a suspicious results. I did a recheck last week, hoping that it will now be normal, but my CEA level is still elmevated, but slightly lower (14.7 ng), no occult blood in the stools, no other sign of any particular problem. Since I quit smoking, the abnormal results cannot be attributed to cigarettes this time. So what to do next? no idea. I think it would be ridiculous to do again a gastro- and coloscopy, after only two years. Also, the value is lower than 2 years ago, if it was the sign of a cancer, wherever it is, I guess it would have increased...

This is the paradox of the complete check-up, they measure plenty of markers that are supposed to help early detection of cancer, but when a results comes abnormal, they tell you that it doesn't mean you have a cancer, and that you should just monitor it... What is the benefit of measuring such marker if the only action is to monitor it until you get other symptoms?

Personally I think we are at a verge of early detection of cancer. Probably in a near future, combination of those markers and other non-invasive tests will be able to confirm or rule-out the presence of a cancer, that will be truely early detection, with better survival chances. But today, we are still far from this, most markers are not specific enough, and their correlation with the development of a cancer are even too uncertain to even justify a lot more investigation if there is no other sign of disease. The benefir of measuring such marker in a check-up is therefore very discutable, and it generate a lot of tress and cost to patients, for probably little or no benefit in term of early detection and treatment success.

I am not yet 41, apparently heathy, having a relatively good hygien of life, not particularly at risk of cancer, but I am now living with that impression that a cancer is developping somewhere in my body, marking in my blood, but still undiscovered or invisible at this stage. That's a pain in the **** (more than the colonoscopy) cause it obviously does not help me to prevent this hypothethic future disease, but it waste my present feeling of being healthy. Any pain in the stomack or intestines, any diarrheas or constipation, become suddenly suspicious and worrisome, while I would have even not consider it before. I wish I never did this test and just keep monitoring usual check-up, but now I have this result on the table, I have no other choice than monitor it, and I am getting totally hypochondriac.

CEA is never used as a primary means of cancer detection due to a number of factors which make it unreliable as a primary test.  A positive CEA test only indicates further tests should be done to rule out cancer.  You had a colonoscopy and what sounds like an endoscopy which resulted in no concerns of cancer.  The only other tests I would maybe look into is a CT scan with contrast or maybe Cologuard which is probably more reliable than CEA for early CRC detection.

Since the search function on this forum leaves a lot to be desired, I'll quickly summarize my situation which may give you some peace.  Diagnosed with Stage 3B Colon Cancer in Dec. of 2012.  CEA was 13.9 prior to surgery.  Aftere completion of chemo, my CEA at its lowest was 3.11 and hovered in this area above 3.  Testing methodology changed from the Siemens Bayer to Roche assay which increased my CEA results.  At the lowest it was 4.7 with my "normal" being in the low 5s.  Last year during a routine checkup, CEA spiked to 9.7 and then 11.  CT with contrast yielded nothing.  PET was ordered.  Radiologist said all clear.  I wasn't convinced since I looked at the scan images and saw a hot spot measuring 6.7 SUV.  Second opinion was sought which also yielded an all clear.  Colonoscopy was done and found a polyp in my appendix.  Right hemicolectomy done with pathology results indicating Stage 0 Appendicial Cancer.  After surgery, CEA dropped back to low 5s.  This past March, go in for a checkup again.  CEA spiked to 15.6.  Retest was done to rule out lab error which came back at 16.7.  CT scan with contrast, PET, MRI with contrast, endoscopy with ultrasound, colonscopy, and small bowel capsule endoscopy were done.  All yielding no cancer found.  CEA tests done during htis period were 14.2 and 11.9.  So CEA trending back down.  Just went in for a checkup a few weeks ago.  CEA back up again to 15.2.  Oncologist says he's not worried as he's seen this behavior with other patients of his.  A friend who went through rectal cancer said her oncologist has said the same thing.  My oncologist said if there was active cancer, CEA wouldn't dip like what we've seen but would keep climbing.  He says this is probably my new normal and the recent spike is still within the range of variability he expects.  I ask if another CEA test or a CT scan is needed.  He said no.  Prior to finding out the CEA number, he had graduated me to 6 months follow ups.  After the recent CEA number, he is still keeping that plan in place but I will have a CT scan for the next checkup in March.

gpa said:

Tumor markers and checkup

The initial post is almost 2 years old, but I'd like to comment and share my own experience.

I am doing complete checkup yearly since I am 30 yo. For almost 10 years it was just a formality, all results always came perfectly normal. Two years ago, I was only 39 yo, I had the good (or wrong) idea to upgrade the check-up package, including several tumor marker and other stuff as they recommend here for men of 40+. The results came with elevated level of CEA (20.8 ng), all the rest was normal. During the review the doctor alerted me on this level and advised in the report to consult a GI specialist for proper management. Which I did immediately. The GI specialist told me that elevated level of CEA alone does not prove the presence of a cancer, so no panic, however after telling me that other factors including smoking and begnin conditions may increase the level of CEA, he still confirmed that this level is abnormal, a bit too high to be explained by my smoking habits. I have been given two option, wait 3-6 months and test again to see the trend, or do with no delay a gastro- and colono-scopy to search for the presence of something wrong. I am not particularly hypochondriac, but I did not feel like waiting 6 months with a cancer possibly speading within my body to confirm a trend, I went for the gastro- and colono-scopy the following week. Results, nothing (visible) except stomack and intestin irritation, thank you. I was only half reassured, in one hand there was no visible cancer there and the rest of my check-up was clear, in other hand this level of CEA remain as a stain on my report and no explaination. I did not check-up last year, maybe related or not (health issues are not the the only problems life offers you) but I show those results to another doctor in my home country. In Europe the tumor markers are not commonly included as part of check-up (as it is in Asia) and the doctor told me that this is the reason why, but he still advise me to check it again since I have a suspicious results. I did a recheck last week, hoping that it will now be normal, but my CEA level is still elmevated, but slightly lower (14.7 ng), no occult blood in the stools, no other sign of any particular problem. Since I quit smoking, the abnormal results cannot be attributed to cigarettes this time. So what to do next? no idea. I think it would be ridiculous to do again a gastro- and coloscopy, after only two years. Also, the value is lower than 2 years ago, if it was the sign of a cancer, wherever it is, I guess it would have increased...

This is the paradox of the complete check-up, they measure plenty of markers that are supposed to help early detection of cancer, but when a results comes abnormal, they tell you that it doesn't mean you have a cancer, and that you should just monitor it... What is the benefit of measuring such marker if the only action is to monitor it until you get other symptoms?

Personally I think we are at a verge of early detection of cancer. Probably in a near future, combination of those markers and other non-invasive tests will be able to confirm or rule-out the presence of a cancer, that will be truely early detection, with better survival chances. But today, we are still far from this, most markers are not specific enough, and their correlation with the development of a cancer are even too uncertain to even justify a lot more investigation if there is no other sign of disease. The benefir of measuring such marker in a check-up is therefore very discutable, and it generate a lot of tress and cost to patients, for probably little or no benefit in term of early detection and treatment success.

I am not yet 41, apparently heathy, having a relatively good hygien of life, not particularly at risk of cancer, but I am now living with that impression that a cancer is developping somewhere in my body, marking in my blood, but still undiscovered or invisible at this stage. That's a pain in the **** (more than the colonoscopy) cause it obviously does not help me to prevent this hypothethic future disease, but it waste my present feeling of being healthy. Any pain in the stomack or intestines, any diarrheas or constipation, become suddenly suspicious and worrisome, while I would have even not consider it before. I wish I never did this test and just keep monitoring usual check-up, but now I have this result on the table, I have no other choice than monitor it, and I am getting totally hypochondriac.

Thanks for your answers and comments. I understand and do agree that CEA marker is not appropriate and should not be used as a primary means of cancer detection, first because many cancers do not raise the level of CEA. It then makes sense to monitor CEA level exclusively with patients who were diagnosed and treated for a cancer which was actually associated with elevated CEA. Since the link between the cancer and the CEA level was first established in those patients, future variation in CEA levels are likely to be good indicators of the disease evolution. Which is not the case for somebody who was initialy found a cancer without CEA elevation, or for somebody who was even not found any cancer associated to the CEA elevation. This said, if all doctors and researchers agree that CEA elevation alone is not a proof of cancer, and that some benign conditions may raise significantly the  CEA level, they also agree that levels beyond 10 ng are "rarely due to benign conditions" and "most often associated with cancer". Rarely, most often, we play with words and ideas, but behind this, there is a remarkable scientific incoherence. How the level of a marker, whatever it is, can be at the same time strongly correlated with the presence of a cancer, and at the same time not a relevant indicator of it? I am not a medical doctor, and I probably miss the subtility of the correlation, but as a scientist I find difficult to understand this equation... To me either the level of CEA is totally unrelevant in term of cancer diagnosis in a non-diagnosed and asymptomatic person, and in that case there is no point to put a threshold on what is supposed to be normal, and more especially on what is too high to be benign, either there is effectively a level of CEA beyond what benign conditions are rare, and in that case the CEA marker is relevant in term of diagnosis. The elevated level will not indicate where and how is the cancer, but it will indicate that there is one to search for. Those questions seem embarassing for medical doctors I have discussed with, and I never ended up with a clear statement on it.

Personnaly I would love to believe that a CEA higher that 10 ng in an apprently healthy person does not mean anything, that it is just a non-relevant marker for health screening, and that out of an establish cancer context, it has just no meaning at all. But considering the little proportion of this protein produced by "normal" cells of an heathy adult, it looks obvious that beyond a certain level (I don't know if it is 5, 10, or 20 ng) it has to be induced by a pathology, serious enough to induce significant number of those cells producing high proportion of CEA, those cells we find notably in tumor, and therefore any person with such a level has, had, or will have something to do with cancer. I believe many doctor have this in mind, but failing in identifying the cause of the elevation (which is maybe impossible at this time cause too early), they prefer to reassure the patient, emphasing on the non-relevance of the marker.

I understand that those considerations may look a bit silly to those who have a diagnosed cancer and live with it, I can imagine that even after remission, the worriness about relapse is something else, and I won't compare my doubts with your legitime fears. I do hope those posts did not offend anybody. I am just trying here to discuss and put in perspective a situation which will probably become more and more common with the public access to those test (I even saw CEA test type Elisa sold on the internet). I unfortunately don't have a clear advise to the next person who will reach this page searching for what he should do after his abnormal CEA test and subsequent negative colonoscopy. Maybe the sage advice would be, as Trubrit said, to try to forget that result, maybe not. On my side, I will keep searching what is the reason of this abnormal result, and I may find, or not. I remember the day I went for the gastro- and colono-scopy two years ago, when leaving in the morning, my wife a bit worried told me "I hope they will find nothing" but I answered to her "I don't, I hope they will find something benign, so it can explain my blood test".

I wish all you the best in your personal situation. Thanks again for the exchange.

gpa said:

Abnormal CEA

Thanks for your answers and comments. I understand and do agree that CEA marker is not appropriate and should not be used as a primary means of cancer detection, first because many cancers do not raise the level of CEA. It then makes sense to monitor CEA level exclusively with patients who were diagnosed and treated for a cancer which was actually associated with elevated CEA. Since the link between the cancer and the CEA level was first established in those patients, future variation in CEA levels are likely to be good indicators of the disease evolution. Which is not the case for somebody who was initialy found a cancer without CEA elevation, or for somebody who was even not found any cancer associated to the CEA elevation. This said, if all doctors and researchers agree that CEA elevation alone is not a proof of cancer, and that some benign conditions may raise significantly the  CEA level, they also agree that levels beyond 10 ng are "rarely due to benign conditions" and "most often associated with cancer". Rarely, most often, we play with words and ideas, but behind this, there is a remarkable scientific incoherence. How the level of a marker, whatever it is, can be at the same time strongly correlated with the presence of a cancer, and at the same time not a relevant indicator of it? I am not a medical doctor, and I probably miss the subtility of the correlation, but as a scientist I find difficult to understand this equation... To me either the level of CEA is totally unrelevant in term of cancer diagnosis in a non-diagnosed and asymptomatic person, and in that case there is no point to put a threshold on what is supposed to be normal, and more especially on what is too high to be benign, either there is effectively a level of CEA beyond what benign conditions are rare, and in that case the CEA marker is relevant in term of diagnosis. The elevated level will not indicate where and how is the cancer, but it will indicate that there is one to search for. Those questions seem embarassing for medical doctors I have discussed with, and I never ended up with a clear statement on it.

Personnaly I would love to believe that a CEA higher that 10 ng in an apprently healthy person does not mean anything, that it is just a non-relevant marker for health screening, and that out of an establish cancer context, it has just no meaning at all. But considering the little proportion of this protein produced by "normal" cells of an heathy adult, it looks obvious that beyond a certain level (I don't know if it is 5, 10, or 20 ng) it has to be induced by a pathology, serious enough to induce significant number of those cells producing high proportion of CEA, those cells we find notably in tumor, and therefore any person with such a level has, had, or will have something to do with cancer. I believe many doctor have this in mind, but failing in identifying the cause of the elevation (which is maybe impossible at this time cause too early), they prefer to reassure the patient, emphasing on the non-relevance of the marker.

I understand that those considerations may look a bit silly to those who have a diagnosed cancer and live with it, I can imagine that even after remission, the worriness about relapse is something else, and I won't compare my doubts with your legitime fears. I do hope those posts did not offend anybody. I am just trying here to discuss and put in perspective a situation which will probably become more and more common with the public access to those test (I even saw CEA test type Elisa sold on the internet). I unfortunately don't have a clear advise to the next person who will reach this page searching for what he should do after his abnormal CEA test and subsequent negative colonoscopy. Maybe the sage advice would be, as Trubrit said, to try to forget that result, maybe not. On my side, I will keep searching what is the reason of this abnormal result, and I may find, or not. I remember the day I went for the gastro- and colono-scopy two years ago, when leaving in the morning, my wife a bit worried told me "I hope they will find nothing" but I answered to her "I don't, I hope they will find something benign, so it can explain my blood test".

I wish all you the best in your personal situation. Thanks again for the exchange.

GPA,

I totally get where you're coming from.  I'm very scientific by nature and had my CRC surgeon call me a scientist.  I did go to college and received a BS degree in Materials Science Engineering and had thoughts about going into Med school.  So when I was diagnosed, I did a lot of research online.  I have a hard time just believing things are the way they are without a solid logical and scientific explanation.  Even with the saying that circulates around various cancer support forums about cancer not playing by the rules and anything can happen.  I can't come to grips with this.  But at some point, the search for logic and answers just drove me mad.  I found myself sifting through old published articles to the wee hours of the morning not sleeping much.  This in itself wasn't healthy.

But back to the CEA discussion.  I personally feel doctors and medical researchers still don't know how to use CEA.  In many articles, there have been statements that elevated CEA above 5ng results in poor prognosis for long term survival or disease free survival.  Yet other articles I've read have stated well differentiated tumor cells express more CEA than poorly differentiated.  Yet well differentiated tumor cells are a positive characteristic for long term survival while poorly differentiated is a negative characteristic.  These two things are at odds which each other.  Then you have those that have metastatic disease with normal CEA numbers.  CEA numbers are also affected by how fast your liver processes this protein antigen out of your blood stream.  There hasn't been much discussion I've found about how variations of liver function/metabolism can affect the rate of CEA removal from the blood stream.

Because of how variable and "unreliable" CEA can be, I've seen others use supplemental blood tests like CA 19-9 as another tool to monitor any cancer activty.  I may ask my oncologist to see if this is a good idea for me to have done.  I've also seen literature which says benign causes of elevated CEA above 10ng are rare but it does say it can happen.  The protocol is to retest for a false positive or lab error.  The same article from what I recall did say CEA above 20ng is most likely due to some sort of cancer activity.  With my situation, I've done all the possible tests to find what is causing my elevated CEA levels.  And so far nothing has come up.  There are things found which were not cancer but could be the cause of the CEA elevation because of the pyloric issues found.  All I can do is trust my oncologist as we can't treat something that we can't find.  Plus he has seen this behavior in some of his patients.  My oncologist has been a very straight shooter with me and I've had many deep in depth discussions with him.  So he knows I get invovled in a highly technical fashion with what we're talking about.  He even knows I look at my own CT and PET scans along with getting the radiology reports well before he looks at them and reports back to me.

lifeaftercancer2016 said:

CEA troubles

to zx10guy my story is similar in that my oncologist also said no to a re-test of the CEA. I was diagnosed with rectal/anal cancer in Nov. 2015 at which time my CEA was 6.7...after surgery and chemo, it hovered between 1-3, never going above 3.9.  On August 22, 2017 it was up to 10.5. I went in for an emergency CT scan and I was in the clear.  I asked my oncologist for a repeat CEA and she absolutely refuses saying the CT scan trumps the CEA, and it was probably a false positive.  But my situation is different as she also is against the PET scan.  I never had one.  I don't know what the issue is with getting that done.  I see her again in November and I don't think it will be a pleasant appnt.  as I'm going to demand answers.  My  only other issue is that I also have a slightly fatty liver and I see from previous posts that this can increase the CEA.  In addition, I'm having some back problems, with inflammations so maybe that is causing the spike too.  I'm so so nervous about what the blood work and CT scan will show in November.

 

Hi lifeaftercancer2016,

Back in March, my oncologist didn't initially order a CT scan for that checkup.  We were assuming all would be normal because my last checkup in December produced nothing on the CT scan ordered then nor were there any issues with my CEA which was 5.2.  The only issue was that I was found to be anemic for some reason with low iron sat levels.  So my oncologist only ordered the CT in March due to the elevated CEA.  When that came back clear, he felt everything was fine.  He felt no need to follow up with a PET.  I talked to my CRC surgeon about the situation and he felt I needed to have a PET to see if it will pick up anything.  So he was the one that ordered the PET; which showed nothing.  All the other procedures I had done were ordered by my GI doctor because of the anemia and because of the appendicial cancer found last year.  He wanted to make sure there's nothing else going on.  My GI doc ordered the colonoscopy, small bowel capsule endoscopy, the MRI with contrast, and the endoscopy with ultrasound.  All of those tests showed nothing cancerous either.

Again, my oncologist was quick to point out he's seen other patients of his which exhibited this CEA behavior.  A friend of mine said her oncologist also said the same thing where some of his patients have exhibited high CEA with no cancer.  Some as high as 20.  My oncologist isn't ordering another CT till March because of all the radiation I've been exposed to.  Since June of 2016, I've had 3 CTs with contast and 2 PET scans.  That is quite a bit of radiation.  I may ask to see if I can have another CEA done.  I think he's not ordering another CEA to keep any anxieties to a minimum; although I haven't really been all that stressed out about the current situation.

I would assume you have a GI doctor and can also contact your surgeon.  Either one of those doctors can also order a CT or PET.  I would talk to these other doctors to get their opinion.  They may agree with your oncologist or they may feel a CT or PET scan is in order here.

Hello everyone! Well IM still searching for the exact cause of me elevated CEA, and I understand what everyone says about the fact that it might not be a very reliable tool pre-screening, BUT I think that there are exceptions based on the circumstances AND the result number. For instance, mine runs above a 15 constantly and every Dr has said that indicative of SOMETHING. And although I may just be waiting around for appts with drs that take 7 months just to get in and still have no answers yet and that might indicate that IM waiting around for the wrong drs or not, IM just not sure. But IM currently in the hands of the Endocrinologist and the gastroenterologist right now undergoing more testing. But to date they have found that I have the ovary issues and all that I spoke of above, a lesion and glial cyst? On my brain along with pituitary issues that the Endocrinologist is in the process of diagnosing, a small mass on my liver, 3 nodules on my lungs, loss of bone mass, anemia, Ive started having severe stomach issues, abnormal lipid panels, monocytosis, some kind of polyps in my colon that are precancerous (my GI informed me this was what was removed 2 yrs ago when all of this started happening) some kind of bile and pancreatic duct minor thing I can't remember in which the scans say theyre not ruling out lesions, and new symptohms.  

So things have increased for me and I quit smoking for 3 months just to see if it was related to the CEA and mylung Dr said the two are not related cuz my CEA went higher in those months than it ever has! I do know that irritable bowel brings it up only a few points cuz when my ibs is flared up it goes up a couple ppoints and when I take prednisone (for COPD exacerbation)it also brings it down a couple points. My lung Dr says i need to talk to my oncologist about looking for cancer in my body cuz as far as she knows,  she sees no other reason for the numbers to be that high, and I still can't get insurance to pay for pet scan. So IM doing what I can do as far as the insurance allows me to, which is to treat symptom by symptom, Dr by Dr. Slowly but surely, and hopefully one day soon the CEA question will be answered. My health is markedly worse just by my day to day life activities,  and how I am unable to do as many of the things that I was able to even 3 months ago, so hopefully these drs can figure out something soon! If anyone has any ideas, comments, etc please let me know and its great to hear from all of you! Please pray for my dad, who has almost died from colon cancer recently.  God bless you all!

Carrie

Kazenmax said:

PreSurgery CEA

Hi all,

I understand the worry on a high CEA but I don't think it's a reliable test. My cancer was discovered Feb 2016. I was diagnosed with Stage III colorectal cancer because of the size and location of my tumor. My oncologist tested my CEA right away and it was a normal 1.8.

My oncologist and oncology surgeon said that the CEA is not a good test when it comes to colorectal cancer.

Not that I want you to worry even if the results are normal... I just want to let you know that it may not be reliable.

k

 

Me too.  Colorectal stage III and CEA has always been normal.  They told me some tumors do not elevate CEA.

Cancer is a never ending worry. 

I am sorry to hear that your CEA is jumping. It isn't a good sign, but then, there are other things that can make it jump.  

May I suggest you copy and paste your query to a brand new thread. That way, we can respond to you, personally, without running up the original poster's thread. 

Here is the link to the forum home page https://csn.cancer.org/forum/128   if you have problems posting, just let us know. 

Tru

sreekanth said:

Elevated CEA with clean scans

I came to this forum because I have a similar predicament. My results are shown below. My CEA has always been normal for the last four years. Suddenly last week, it was measured at 15.6 and today (after 5 days) at 17.1 ! It seems to be going up by multiple points in few days. Am I dying?

 

3/21/17: Dx T3N0M0- distal rectal cancer, 4.5cm tumor, 2.5 cm from anal verge
4/18 to 5/22/17: chemoradiation - Xeloda 1800mg twice a day for 25 days, 200 Cgy/day
6/28/17: biopsy shows no cancer
8/09/17: MRI - no primary tumor left, starts wait and watch
8/17/17 to 12/1/17: mop-up chemo with Folfox and oxaliplatin (IV infusion), every two weeks
5/19 expanding right lung nodule, 8mm
8/19 VATS wedge
9/19, 12/19, 4/20, 7/20, 1/21- Clean CT, MRI, NED
7/17/21- Clean scans, CEA 15.6 !
7/22/21- CEA 17.3 !

 

 

If you are able to, have you considered a liquid biopsy? My wife used a company called Tempus that arranged the whole thing. A liquid biopsy is typically used to assess any cancerous indications in the blood steam (I'm not a doctor so maybe my terminology isn't right on), but point is a liquid biopsy can scan for microscopic tumour markers in you blood stream, when scans aren't showing anything. If there's cancer in your body, these liquid biopsies have been known to pick up what can't always be seen by a scan. Wishing you the best.