tumor marker rise and on arimidex
I am on Arimidex and will be done in November after 7yrs post treatment.
I am now experiencing rise in tumor markers for breast cancer. I will be at labs again on Wednesday for the recheck. I am stage 3A and Her2 positive and ER PR positive.
Not too sure how to think about this. Was a surprise after all this time. Do the labs and wait as usual.
Best regards
roxanne53
Comments
-
Roxanne, I have become
Roxanne, I have become diligent with self breast exams. My original lumpectomy has left a good bit of scar tissue and I check myself often. I was actually checking myself in the shower and discovered a "new" lump on the same breast but in a different location. I had a mammo scheduled in a week, so I waited and went to the appointment and brought this to the attention of the nurse. The rest is history...I had a recurrence. The interesting part of this story is that in the weeks before I found this lump I had an appointment with my OB/GYN, medical oncologist and radiation oncologist. None of them felt it. Ladies, be diligent on checking yourself.0 -
Hi Roxanne~
My tumor markers
Hi Roxanne~
My tumor markers would rise and fall, generally they were in the 20's and once it jumped to the 30's. My Dr wasn't too worried as markers in BC aren't known to be that much of a factor...turns out my markers went back down and that the spike was an anomoly.His practice is to schedule labs in 3 months rather than 6 if the markers are high, just to see.
I am also 7 years post original diagnosis, and finished 5 years of Arimidex about 18 months ago.
Sadly,I am battling a recurrance right now~ I have liver mets which was diagnosed following gallbladder surgery which I didn't recover from as quickly as everyone thought I should. In conjunction with actually having cancer again, my markers were in the 50's~ I am now on meds and they are back in the 40's. Not low, by any means, but still~ on the way back down!
Hope yours is nothing, of course! Keep us posted!
Hugs,
Chen♥0 -
Tumor markes...I HATE themchenheart said:Hi Roxanne~
My tumor markers
Hi Roxanne~
My tumor markers would rise and fall, generally they were in the 20's and once it jumped to the 30's. My Dr wasn't too worried as markers in BC aren't known to be that much of a factor...turns out my markers went back down and that the spike was an anomoly.His practice is to schedule labs in 3 months rather than 6 if the markers are high, just to see.
I am also 7 years post original diagnosis, and finished 5 years of Arimidex about 18 months ago.
Sadly,I am battling a recurrance right now~ I have liver mets which was diagnosed following gallbladder surgery which I didn't recover from as quickly as everyone thought I should. In conjunction with actually having cancer again, my markers were in the 50's~ I am now on meds and they are back in the 40's. Not low, by any means, but still~ on the way back down!
Hope yours is nothing, of course! Keep us posted!
Hugs,
Chen♥
Anything can cause a rise in your markers....starting with a sinus infection. Being dehydrated. Mine pop up and down, and my onc. wasn't concerned. Yours is following up on YOU, and just being cautious. Better to be that way than to think..."oh, pooh, just a little rise!"
CHenheart, you have an excellent team. 40's and 50's are higher than "they" like, but I've seen counts (not mine, mind you, but others have shared) that are in the 100's. Glad to hear that they are on the way back down.
Will keep you close in my thoughts and prayers and hope that this is just a blip on your radar.0 -
You don't really need tomissrenee said:Okay--I feel like a dummy
I have never heard my oncologist, surgeon or radiation oncologist talk about "tumor markers." What are they and should I know my "numbers" or something?
You don't really need to know or worry about them at all...evidently they mean next to nothing as far as BC is concerned, and many onco docs, for that reason pay them little to no attention! Mine are a touchstone with my recurrance, as they FOR ME are abnornally high~ but are also on their way back down!
Hugs,
Chen♥0 -
Thanks, Miss Chenchenheart said:You don't really need to
You don't really need to know or worry about them at all...evidently they mean next to nothing as far as BC is concerned, and many onco docs, for that reason pay them little to no attention! Mine are a touchstone with my recurrance, as they FOR ME are abnornally high~ but are also on their way back down!
Hugs,
Chen♥
Also, so glad yours on movin' on down the road! Good luck!
Hugs, Renee0 -
tumor markers are a way ofmissrenee said:Okay--I feel like a dummy
I have never heard my oncologist, surgeon or radiation oncologist talk about "tumor markers." What are they and should I know my "numbers" or something?
tumor markers are a way of tracking your cancer via blood work. What the doctors look for is a trend, either up or down. I was diagnosed 4 months ago and was in a "normal" range for someone having cancer. At my last test my markers had risen by a few points but still in the "normal" range. My doctor was not concerned, saying that many things can cause a slight rise in that number. The tests are CA15.3 and CA27-29. From what I understand some doctors use this for diagnosis and some don't. Ask your oncologist where you fit in. As others said, some doctors don't even believe this to be a good indicator.
Good luck to you and God Bless!!!!!0 -
tumor markersputzie said:tumor markers are a way of
tumor markers are a way of tracking your cancer via blood work. What the doctors look for is a trend, either up or down. I was diagnosed 4 months ago and was in a "normal" range for someone having cancer. At my last test my markers had risen by a few points but still in the "normal" range. My doctor was not concerned, saying that many things can cause a slight rise in that number. The tests are CA15.3 and CA27-29. From what I understand some doctors use this for diagnosis and some don't. Ask your oncologist where you fit in. As others said, some doctors don't even believe this to be a good indicator.
Good luck to you and God Bless!!!!!
Thanks for this info.
I was wondering about this..... trying not to be paranoid.
I wish there was one good test.
Merry (Sally5)0 -
Thank you very much for theMyTurnNow said:Roxanne, I have become
Roxanne, I have become diligent with self breast exams. My original lumpectomy has left a good bit of scar tissue and I check myself often. I was actually checking myself in the shower and discovered a "new" lump on the same breast but in a different location. I had a mammo scheduled in a week, so I waited and went to the appointment and brought this to the attention of the nurse. The rest is history...I had a recurrence. The interesting part of this story is that in the weeks before I found this lump I had an appointment with my OB/GYN, medical oncologist and radiation oncologist. None of them felt it. Ladies, be diligent on checking yourself.
Thank you very much for the information. I have bilateral mascetomy and do watch the scares area.
I do have a very thorough oncology doc.
Diligent is what we do have to be for ourselves
Roxanne0 -
Thank you for thechenheart said:Hi Roxanne~
My tumor markers
Hi Roxanne~
My tumor markers would rise and fall, generally they were in the 20's and once it jumped to the 30's. My Dr wasn't too worried as markers in BC aren't known to be that much of a factor...turns out my markers went back down and that the spike was an anomoly.His practice is to schedule labs in 3 months rather than 6 if the markers are high, just to see.
I am also 7 years post original diagnosis, and finished 5 years of Arimidex about 18 months ago.
Sadly,I am battling a recurrance right now~ I have liver mets which was diagnosed following gallbladder surgery which I didn't recover from as quickly as everyone thought I should. In conjunction with actually having cancer again, my markers were in the 50's~ I am now on meds and they are back in the 40's. Not low, by any means, but still~ on the way back down!
Hope yours is nothing, of course! Keep us posted!
Hugs,
Chen♥
Thank you for the information.
My markers have usually stayed around 36,37, in the high 30;s and not going over 40 until now.
I know that it is not the sole information that tells of reccurance but had been wondering.0 -
Thank you for thisputzie said:tumor markers are a way of
tumor markers are a way of tracking your cancer via blood work. What the doctors look for is a trend, either up or down. I was diagnosed 4 months ago and was in a "normal" range for someone having cancer. At my last test my markers had risen by a few points but still in the "normal" range. My doctor was not concerned, saying that many things can cause a slight rise in that number. The tests are CA15.3 and CA27-29. From what I understand some doctors use this for diagnosis and some don't. Ask your oncologist where you fit in. As others said, some doctors don't even believe this to be a good indicator.
Good luck to you and God Bless!!!!!
Thank you for this information too.
My doc looks at trends in the markers. I will know more by end of next week. I will have labs next Wednesday.0
Discussion Boards
- All Discussion Boards
- 6 CSN Information
- 6 Welcome to CSN
- 121.8K Cancer specific
- 2.8K Anal Cancer
- 446 Bladder Cancer
- 309 Bone Cancers
- 1.6K Brain Cancer
- 28.5K Breast Cancer
- 397 Childhood Cancers
- 27.9K Colorectal Cancer
- 4.6K Esophageal Cancer
- 1.2K Gynecological Cancers (other than ovarian and uterine)
- 13K Head and Neck Cancer
- 6.4K Kidney Cancer
- 671 Leukemia
- 793 Liver Cancer
- 4.1K Lung Cancer
- 5.1K Lymphoma (Hodgkin and Non-Hodgkin)
- 237 Multiple Myeloma
- 7.1K Ovarian Cancer
- 61 Pancreatic Cancer
- 487 Peritoneal Cancer
- 5.5K Prostate Cancer
- 1.2K Rare and Other Cancers
- 539 Sarcoma
- 730 Skin Cancer
- 653 Stomach Cancer
- 191 Testicular Cancer
- 1.5K Thyroid Cancer
- 5.8K Uterine/Endometrial Cancer
- 6.3K Lifestyle Discussion Boards