CEA Levels

meg724
meg724 Member Posts: 5
edited March 2014 in Colorectal Cancer #1
I'm looking for some comparisons - my father's CEA level is 18. I'm wondering if this is considered a really high CEA. Can't access our Dr. right now, and I am really curious. He just finished is 8th 5FU treatment for colon cancer. Had surgery in October. I'd appreciate any input or comparisons. Thanks.

Comments

  • mwomack
    mwomack Member Posts: 78
    #2
    The number is out of the normal range, but this number by itself really doesn't tell you much. The normal is <3.0 for non-smoker and <5.0 for smoker.

    What was his previous numbers? What stage was he?

    MA
  • meg724
    meg724 Member Posts: 5
    #3
    mwomack said:

    The number is out of the normal range, but this number by itself really doesn't tell you much. The normal is <3.0 for non-smoker and <5.0 for smoker.

    What was his previous numbers? What stage was he?

    MA</p>

    He is stage II with no lymph node involvement. We didn't have a CEA pre-surgery because his surgery was on an emergency basis. His post surgery CEA was 9, now it is 18. I have heard that a rising CEA can occur due to inflamation, but haven't been able to confirm this. He has never smoked.
  • terril
    terril Member Posts: 296
    #4
    Hi!!
    Sometimes chemo can elevate CEA levels. My CEA was 1.7 post surgery pre chemo.. While on chemo it went as high as 4.2.
    When I ended chemo (the first time) it went down to 1.6. I have a recurrence of some small tumors in my pelvis. I have had 3
    chemo treatments of CPT-11, 5-FU and Avastin. As of last week, my CEA is 1.6. The CEA marker can be very confusing. It
    is best viewed in relation to the other blood tests run, from what I have been told. Terri
  • mwomack
    mwomack Member Posts: 78
    #5
    meg724 said:

    He is stage II with no lymph node involvement. We didn't have a CEA pre-surgery because his surgery was on an emergency basis. His post surgery CEA was 9, now it is 18. I have heard that a rising CEA can occur due to inflamation, but haven't been able to confirm this. He has never smoked.

    I have read that a CEA levels over 10 will not be for benign causes. I would talk with the Dr. about doing a PET scan to see what is going on.

    Does he seem concerned at all about the CEA?

    TerriL:
    Did they remove the pelvic tumors. My husband just had surgery for a recurrence in the presacral space. We are looking into CPT11 as a monotherapy, and I don't really know why other than he said the 5FU didn't work last time (finished FOLFOX in May 05) I will be asking him about the Avastin our next visit.
  • meg724
    meg724 Member Posts: 5
    #6
    mwomack said:

    I have read that a CEA levels over 10 will not be for benign causes. I would talk with the Dr. about doing a PET scan to see what is going on.

    Does he seem concerned at all about the CEA?

    TerriL:
    Did they remove the pelvic tumors. My husband just had surgery for a recurrence in the presacral space. We are looking into CPT11 as a monotherapy, and I don't really know why other than he said the 5FU didn't work last time (finished FOLFOX in May 05) I will be asking him about the Avastin our next visit.

    Our Dr. never seems too concerned about anything. He hasn't even mentioned a PET scan. I need to push for that the next time we go, which is two weeks for Folfox treatment #9.

    I've heard that CEA levels are not necessarily definitive, but I haven't been able to track down anything directly that indicates that.

    I'm going to push for the PET scan despite the fact that the Dr. doesn't want to do a scan until he's done treatment and "everything calms down". He doesn't seem aggressive enough to me. I need to push more I think.
  • HowardJ
    HowardJ Member Posts: 474
    #7
    Hi,

    18 seems a bit high however CEA can be elevated due to a number of reasons. I did a quick search on google and this link gives a good explaination:

    http://www.webmd.com/hw/cancer/hw3988.asp

    I had to search on the full term to get results (carcinoembryonic antigen) if you want to try it.

    Howard
  • terril
    terril Member Posts: 296
    #8
    mwomack said:

    I have read that a CEA levels over 10 will not be for benign causes. I would talk with the Dr. about doing a PET scan to see what is going on.

    Does he seem concerned at all about the CEA?

    TerriL:
    Did they remove the pelvic tumors. My husband just had surgery for a recurrence in the presacral space. We are looking into CPT11 as a monotherapy, and I don't really know why other than he said the 5FU didn't work last time (finished FOLFOX in May 05) I will be asking him about the Avastin our next visit.

    Hi mwomak!
    My tumors have not been removed. We decided to try the chemo first to shrink them (3.0 cm and 1.5 cm). I will have a CT
    in May to see if things arer working. Right now we are playing the "wait and see" game. I pray the chemo works. The Avastin
    shrinks the blood vessals in the tumor while the CPT-11 and 5-FU go after dividing cells . Search and destroy chemo mission!!!
    How is your husband doing? Where in the colon was his ordiginal tumor? Feel free to send me a message about the chem
    treatment I am on, especially the CPT-11. My prayers and thoughts are with you and your husband. Fight and
    never give up!!! Terri
  • mwomack
    mwomack Member Posts: 78
    #9
    terril said:

    Hi mwomak!
    My tumors have not been removed. We decided to try the chemo first to shrink them (3.0 cm and 1.5 cm). I will have a CT
    in May to see if things arer working. Right now we are playing the "wait and see" game. I pray the chemo works. The Avastin
    shrinks the blood vessals in the tumor while the CPT-11 and 5-FU go after dividing cells . Search and destroy chemo mission!!!
    How is your husband doing? Where in the colon was his ordiginal tumor? Feel free to send me a message about the chem
    treatment I am on, especially the CPT-11. My prayers and thoughts are with you and your husband. Fight and
    never give up!!! Terri

    TerriL:

    Sigmoid colon Stage IIIC 10/04
    Finished chemo 05/05
    Laparoscopy surgery 2/15/06 removed 1.7cm presacral mass - poorly differentiated and margins were not clear.

    We are waiting 3 more weeks to decide the next step. He had told us last week that he wanted to check his CEA before deciding. If it was normal (<3.0) he would do radiation on the site. If it was not down to normal, he would do chemo because he feels there is more going on. His CEA dropped from 5.5 (pre-surgery) to 4.2 (6 days after surgery).

    He was right the first round, but I am praying that the onc. is wrong on the re-check. When we asked to re-do the CEA test, he said 4 weeks and I said we didn't want to wait that long. He said it would take that long to start going back up. My husband piped in and said "or down." He said hopefully that would be the case. But in reading him, he really thinks it is somewhere else and they can't find it.

    What other chemo have you had?
    MA
  • nanuk
    nanuk Member Posts: 1,358 Member
    #10
    the site Howard provided has some good information-(as usual)
    Since you didn't do a CEA pre-surgery, you don't know if CEA is a reliable measure in your father's case. There are folks on this site who have been survivers for years with a CEA of over 1500! Nanuk
  • terril
    terril Member Posts: 296
    #11
    mwomack said:

    TerriL:

    Sigmoid colon Stage IIIC 10/04
    Finished chemo 05/05
    Laparoscopy surgery 2/15/06 removed 1.7cm presacral mass - poorly differentiated and margins were not clear.

    We are waiting 3 more weeks to decide the next step. He had told us last week that he wanted to check his CEA before deciding. If it was normal (<3.0) he would do radiation on the site. If it was not down to normal, he would do chemo because he feels there is more going on. His CEA dropped from 5.5 (pre-surgery) to 4.2 (6 days after surgery).

    He was right the first round, but I am praying that the onc. is wrong on the re-check. When we asked to re-do the CEA test, he said 4 weeks and I said we didn't want to wait that long. He said it would take that long to start going back up. My husband piped in and said "or down." He said hopefully that would be the case. But in reading him, he really thinks it is somewhere else and they can't find it.

    What other chemo have you had?
    MA</p>

    Hi womack!
    I was diagnosed on February 25, 2004. Chemo consisted of 5-FU and leuk. for 7 months. This was not very pretty. Sick...nausea...weight loss. I started this April 21, 2004 and ended in November 2004. My recurrence was found December 2005. Started on CPT-11, 5-fu, and Avastin January 2006. So far I am doing ok with the chemo regiment. I had a bout of nausea last week that took me for a loop. I was not expecting it.
    I hope things will go well for your husband! Terri
  • carrienjason777
    carrienjason777 Member Posts: 10
    edited June 2017 #12

    Hi! Ive  been experiencing issues with my CEA and no one can help me so I hope one of you might can! 

    But about the CEA, it was first checked 2 and 1/2 years ago with some problems I was presenting, the Dr thought I might have uterine or ovarian cancer so she checked it. The first time was 15, and over this time period it has fluctuated from 12.1 to 18.5 until the last 3 months, it has been only from 17 to 21.3. An ovary removal 2 years ago showed no cancer but the other was never checked and I constantly have complex cysts occurring on the remaining ovary, but my gyne refuses to check my other ovary. I have also developed anemia in this time frame and see an oncologist but he thinks that the CEA could possibly be from emphysema but my lung Dr says no, not with it that high but my oncologist won't do anything still further. I was also checked at first for colon and intestinal problems (due to my father having colon cancer and the CEA) but they were negative in 2015. IM at my wits end not knowing if I should find other Dr's that would seek until they have an answer is to why CEA is high, or should I just let it go? IM concerned due to symptoms I keep having off and on also: severe bone and joint pain, nausea, severe weight loss, headaches and other things. If anyone could offer some advice then please cuz IM unsure of what to do anymore!  Thanks!

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