Cancer Markers

missgogo
missgogo Member Posts: 58
edited March 2014 in Breast Cancer #1
Can someone please explain what Cancer Marker are. My Doc Told me what what mine was and said it was in the normal range.

Comments

  • Cindy54
    Cindy54 Member Posts: 452
    #2
    Did your cancer marker have a name? Most cancer markers have a name that they go by or are called. There are certain numbers in a range in these markers that let the doctors know if there is need for further treatment, or if the cancer is active or spreading. Cindy
  • mimivac
    mimivac Member Posts: 2,143 Member
    #3
    Cancer markers
    There are two that I know are commonly used for breast cancer. I don't have the info. in front of me now, but one is called something like CEA and the other CA 27.29. My doc. does the latter, and normal range is anything below 38. But some people can naturally have high numbers without having cancer. The markers are not necessarily indicative of either absence or presence of disease, but they give good trend information. For instance, if your marker suddenly starts to increase, your doctor may do a follow up scan just to make sure. If you are normal, I wouldn't worry about it.
  • Eil4186
    Eil4186 Member Posts: 949
    #4
    CA 125 is the tumor marker
    CA 125 is the tumor marker for ovarian cancer. Cancer cells discard/create a protein that normal cells do except in elevated amounts. So, there is a normal range that is ok to have in your blood. But as Mimi said, a low number doesn't gaurantee there is no cancer and a high number doesn't guarantee there is cancer.

    My onc. explained it as a high number is like when your check engine light comes on. It doesn't necessarily mean cancer, but it indicates that something may be going on.

    My vocabulary may be wrong but this is the gist of it, I think.
  • Eil4186
    Eil4186 Member Posts: 949
    #5
    CA 125 is the tumor marker
    CA 125 is the tumor marker for ovarian cancer. Cancer cells discard/create a protein that normal cells do except in elevated amounts. So, there is a normal range that is ok to have in your blood. But as Mimi said, a low number doesn't gaurantee there is no cancer and a high number doesn't guarantee there is cancer.

    My onc. explained it as a high number is like when your check engine light comes on. It doesn't necessarily mean cancer, but it indicates that something may be going on.

    My vocabulary may be wrong but this is the gist of it, I think.
  • Eil4186
    Eil4186 Member Posts: 949
    #6
    CA 125 is the tumor marker
    CA 125 is the tumor marker for ovarian cancer. Cancer cells discard/create a protein that normal cells do except in elevated amounts. So, there is a normal range that is ok to have in your blood. But as Mimi said, a low number doesn't gaurantee there is no cancer and a high number doesn't guarantee there is cancer.

    My onc. explained it as a high number is like when your check engine light comes on. It doesn't necessarily mean cancer, but it indicates that something may be going on.

    My vocabulary may be wrong but this is the gist of it, I think.
  • RE
    RE Member Posts: 4,591 Member
    #7
    :-)
    Hope this is what you are looking for.

    CA 15-3 antigen levels are most commonly elevated in breast cancer, ovarian, lung, colorectal, and pancreatic. The "safe" margin is anything below 31.3.

    CEA looks for elevated protein levels and is for the same cancers as listed above. The "safe" margins are anything between 0.1 - 4.9.

    Hugs,

    RE
  • jnl
    jnl Member Posts: 3,869 Member
    #8
    RE said:

    :-)
    Hope this is what you are looking for.

    CA 15-3 antigen levels are most commonly elevated in breast cancer, ovarian, lung, colorectal, and pancreatic. The "safe" margin is anything below 31.3.

    CEA looks for elevated protein levels and is for the same cancers as listed above. The "safe" margins are anything between 0.1 - 4.9.

    Hugs,

    RE

    Thanks for this information.
    Thanks for this information. I never heard of this. I don't think I was ever told mine. Should I try and find out?

    Hugs, Leeza
  • mimivac
    mimivac Member Posts: 2,143 Member
    #9
    jnl said:

    Thanks for this information.
    Thanks for this information. I never heard of this. I don't think I was ever told mine. Should I try and find out?

    Hugs, Leeza

    Leeza,
    Your doctor may not have done the test on you. Not all doctors use cancer markers. They're not known to be extremely accurate. Mine uses them for trend information only. To tell you the truth, I'm not sure how I feel about them. My number is normal now, so it gives me some reassurance. However, if it starts to rise, I know I will freak out even if it's still in the normal range. I will wonder why it's rising and drive myself nuts, even though it's probably nothing. I've been toying with the idea of just having them done, but not getting the results unless my onc. thinks there's a real problem.

    Mimi
  • jnl
    jnl Member Posts: 3,869 Member
    #10
    mimivac said:

    Leeza,
    Your doctor may not have done the test on you. Not all doctors use cancer markers. They're not known to be extremely accurate. Mine uses them for trend information only. To tell you the truth, I'm not sure how I feel about them. My number is normal now, so it gives me some reassurance. However, if it starts to rise, I know I will freak out even if it's still in the normal range. I will wonder why it's rising and drive myself nuts, even though it's probably nothing. I've been toying with the idea of just having them done, but not getting the results unless my onc. thinks there's a real problem.

    Mimi

    Ok, thanks Mimi. I knew I
    Ok, thanks Mimi. I knew I was never told this. I kept all of my papers and couldn't find anything about cancer markers. Guess my oncologist just doesn't do it.

    Thanks again!


    Leeza
  • Aortus
    Aortus Member Posts: 967
    #11
    mimivac said:

    Leeza,
    Your doctor may not have done the test on you. Not all doctors use cancer markers. They're not known to be extremely accurate. Mine uses them for trend information only. To tell you the truth, I'm not sure how I feel about them. My number is normal now, so it gives me some reassurance. However, if it starts to rise, I know I will freak out even if it's still in the normal range. I will wonder why it's rising and drive myself nuts, even though it's probably nothing. I've been toying with the idea of just having them done, but not getting the results unless my onc. thinks there's a real problem.

    Mimi

    Funny you should mention that, Mimi
    Moopy had an appointment this afternoon with her St. Louis oncologist, Dr. Horn (aka Dr. Formidable). She happened to mention that Moopy's tumor marker results would be in tomorrow, which opened up a whole kettle of fish. Apparently Moopy's last two results were a little above the "normal" range - but as Dr. Horn pointed out, Moopy came out NED per PET scan at the beginning of June. So it turns out she, too, is using them for trend information.

    It took me a little bit of time on the drive back to convince Moopy of this, but when we stopped for a bite to eat (God bless restaurants with free wi-fi) I showed her your response to Leeza. Yet another case of my beloved wife's extreme disinclination to believe a thing I say - changing to vehement agreement once another woman says exactly the same thing. And when the other woman is you, that only makes Moopy more vehement.

    So thanks for ganging up on Moopy with me, Mimi! I am proud to be your junior partner on the Triple Negative Truth Team.

    Joe
  • DianeBC
    DianeBC Member Posts: 3,881 Member
    #12
    Aortus said:

    Funny you should mention that, Mimi
    Moopy had an appointment this afternoon with her St. Louis oncologist, Dr. Horn (aka Dr. Formidable). She happened to mention that Moopy's tumor marker results would be in tomorrow, which opened up a whole kettle of fish. Apparently Moopy's last two results were a little above the "normal" range - but as Dr. Horn pointed out, Moopy came out NED per PET scan at the beginning of June. So it turns out she, too, is using them for trend information.

    It took me a little bit of time on the drive back to convince Moopy of this, but when we stopped for a bite to eat (God bless restaurants with free wi-fi) I showed her your response to Leeza. Yet another case of my beloved wife's extreme disinclination to believe a thing I say - changing to vehement agreement once another woman says exactly the same thing. And when the other woman is you, that only makes Moopy more vehement.

    So thanks for ganging up on Moopy with me, Mimi! I am proud to be your junior partner on the Triple Negative Truth Team.

    Joe

    I never had these cancer
    I never had these cancer markers either that I know of. So, I guess they are no big deal from what I have read here.

    Here's hoping that all that have them, that the results are normal!

    Hugs, Diane ♥
  • jnl
    jnl Member Posts: 3,869 Member
    #13
    Aortus said:

    Funny you should mention that, Mimi
    Moopy had an appointment this afternoon with her St. Louis oncologist, Dr. Horn (aka Dr. Formidable). She happened to mention that Moopy's tumor marker results would be in tomorrow, which opened up a whole kettle of fish. Apparently Moopy's last two results were a little above the "normal" range - but as Dr. Horn pointed out, Moopy came out NED per PET scan at the beginning of June. So it turns out she, too, is using them for trend information.

    It took me a little bit of time on the drive back to convince Moopy of this, but when we stopped for a bite to eat (God bless restaurants with free wi-fi) I showed her your response to Leeza. Yet another case of my beloved wife's extreme disinclination to believe a thing I say - changing to vehement agreement once another woman says exactly the same thing. And when the other woman is you, that only makes Moopy more vehement.

    So thanks for ganging up on Moopy with me, Mimi! I am proud to be your junior partner on the Triple Negative Truth Team.

    Joe

    LOL Joe. When will you men
    LOL Joe. When will you men learn?

    (sigh) Leeza
  • mimivac
    mimivac Member Posts: 2,143 Member
    #14
    Aortus said:

    Funny you should mention that, Mimi
    Moopy had an appointment this afternoon with her St. Louis oncologist, Dr. Horn (aka Dr. Formidable). She happened to mention that Moopy's tumor marker results would be in tomorrow, which opened up a whole kettle of fish. Apparently Moopy's last two results were a little above the "normal" range - but as Dr. Horn pointed out, Moopy came out NED per PET scan at the beginning of June. So it turns out she, too, is using them for trend information.

    It took me a little bit of time on the drive back to convince Moopy of this, but when we stopped for a bite to eat (God bless restaurants with free wi-fi) I showed her your response to Leeza. Yet another case of my beloved wife's extreme disinclination to believe a thing I say - changing to vehement agreement once another woman says exactly the same thing. And when the other woman is you, that only makes Moopy more vehement.

    So thanks for ganging up on Moopy with me, Mimi! I am proud to be your junior partner on the Triple Negative Truth Team.

    Joe

    Triple Negative Truth Team!
    Well, I'm honored to be a part of this team, Joe! And yes, Moopy, no need to worry about the marker. The PET scan is so much more accurate. Usually they will do the PET scan to confirm or deny a tumor marker. And a little above the normal is no big deal. Somone on my other board had a level of something like 4200 on the CA 29.27, where the normal is under 38. So, don't worry. But, yes, I totally understand wanting to have "perfect" numbers. I don't think I'll ask for my results from now on.

    Mimi
  • missgogo
    missgogo Member Posts: 58
    #15
    mimivac said:

    Triple Negative Truth Team!
    Well, I'm honored to be a part of this team, Joe! And yes, Moopy, no need to worry about the marker. The PET scan is so much more accurate. Usually they will do the PET scan to confirm or deny a tumor marker. And a little above the normal is no big deal. Somone on my other board had a level of something like 4200 on the CA 29.27, where the normal is under 38. So, don't worry. But, yes, I totally understand wanting to have "perfect" numbers. I don't think I'll ask for my results from now on.

    Mimi

    Thanks
    Thanks for all of the good replys. My ONC Told me what mine was for the first time and it is a 7 and they said that was good. All of my other lab work is improving.
  • Moopy23
    Moopy23 Member Posts: 1,751 Member
    #16
    missgogo said:

    Thanks
    Thanks for all of the good replys. My ONC Told me what mine was for the first time and it is a 7 and they said that was good. All of my other lab work is improving.

    I'm With Mimi
    Glad your lab work is either good and improving, missgogo. As for me and cancer markers, I'm joining Mimi and won't be asking for that number!
  • survivorbc09
    survivorbc09 Member Posts: 4,374 Member
    #17
    missgogo said:

    Thanks
    Thanks for all of the good replys. My ONC Told me what mine was for the first time and it is a 7 and they said that was good. All of my other lab work is improving.

    Congrats on the good cancer
    Congrats on the good cancer marker number missgogo!

    Hugs!
  • jnl
    jnl Member Posts: 3,869 Member
    #18
    missgogo said:

    Thanks
    Thanks for all of the good replys. My ONC Told me what mine was for the first time and it is a 7 and they said that was good. All of my other lab work is improving.

    That is great missgogo that
    That is great missgogo that you had a 7! Congrats!

    Leeza

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