Another Question....

Sam725
Sam725 Member Posts: 87 Member
edited March 2014 in Colorectal Cancer #1
Okay so the onocologist called me back. The ultrasound on my husband's kidneys showed nothing, I asked what his CEA level was finally and it was 1.1 doc said that's good. Well of course I didn't ask what is the norm for that blood test if there is one. Does someone know if there is a range that is normal for the CEA. Also said my husband could do the xelox instead of FU5 but it has more toxic side effects than the FU5 ie the neuopathy symptoms. He said if the FU5 becomes a hassle he can do the other one. So we agreed he would do the FU5. Anyways if anyone can shed light on the range of the CEA test that would be great. Thanks Sandy

Comments

  • MarksKerry
    MarksKerry Member Posts: 34
    #2
    From what I understand the lower the better when it comes to CEA - -however, for some people it is a terrible marker. I know you'll hear from people who had really active disease and were in the under 2 range -- I have a friend who is battling inflammatory breast cancer with multiple mets and her's is 1700 right now! Mark's was 1.3 when he went in for surgery -- the comments were that either the tumor wasn't sloughing cells that impacted the marker level, OR it is a test that doesn't say much for him. I think the best advice would be to note what it is now, and ask periodically just to get a sense of which direction things might be going -- and lower is definitely better! It's kind of like getting on the scale once a month to get a feel for 'direction' - although it's much easier to have a sense of direction with one's weight -- most of cancers goings on tend to be a little more covert! Keep up the good fight!
  • nudgie
    nudgie Member Posts: 1,478 Member
    #3
    This is my understanding and comes from my blood work reports:

    Non-Smoker Normal Range: 0.5 - 3.0
    Smoker Normal Range: 3.0 - 5.0
  • KathiM
    KathiM Member Posts: 8,028 Member
    #4
    My CEA was .5 at diagnosis of stage III rectal cancer....sorry, for me it never was a good marker...

    Hugs, Kathi

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