anyone have their ca 125 jump because of a cold or an infection??

maggie_wilson
maggie_wilson Member Posts: 596
edited March 2014 in Uterine/Endometrial Cancer #1
sisters,

i've read, and seen on the ovarian cancer site, postings from women who say their ca 125 had spiked because of something as small as a cold, and certainly a big infection. wondering if anyone here has actually had that experience? i wrote recently that my ca 125 spiked, but hadn't thought of the fact that i was catching a cold at the time i had the lab test. i'd like to believe that is the reason, but really, more likely spiking because of other things going on. but, certainly am curious about what can affect a ca 125, and do understand why it's considered so unreliable.

sisterhood,
maggie

Comments

  • hopeful girl 1
    hopeful girl 1 Member Posts: 454
    #2
    CA125
    Maggie,

    Hi there.

    Did you email any of the ladies on the ovarian boards that had their CA125 spike from a cold or infection, and inquire if it went back down afterwards? Perhaps you could request another CA125 test, if your cold is better now.

    I believe the CA125 measures a certain protein in the blood that is a cancer indicator.
    But certainly tests can get thrown off by other things.

    Infact my doc mentioned to me that sometimes even scans can be misleading after the kind of surgery we have had.

    Hugs,
    Cindy
  • maggie_wilson
    maggie_wilson Member Posts: 596
    #3
    hopeful girl 1 said:

    CA125
    Maggie,

    Hi there.

    Did you email any of the ladies on the ovarian boards that had their CA125 spike from a cold or infection, and inquire if it went back down afterwards? Perhaps you could request another CA125 test, if your cold is better now.

    I believe the CA125 measures a certain protein in the blood that is a cancer indicator.
    But certainly tests can get thrown off by other things.

    Infact my doc mentioned to me that sometimes even scans can be misleading after the kind of surgery we have had.

    Hugs,
    Cindy

    cindy
    i didn't ask the ovarian site women if their ca 125s went down after, but that's a good idea. the site i got to was a little old, however. i still have my cold, in fact it's gotten worse, but i do plan to have another ca 125 when this cold is done, done, done. now i've lost my voice pretty much. geeze.
    thanx for your comments, cindy.

    sisterhood,
    maggie
  • Ro10
    Ro10 Member Posts: 1,561 Member
    #4
    maggie_wilson said:

    cindy
    i didn't ask the ovarian site women if their ca 125s went down after, but that's a good idea. the site i got to was a little old, however. i still have my cold, in fact it's gotten worse, but i do plan to have another ca 125 when this cold is done, done, done. now i've lost my voice pretty much. geeze.
    thanx for your comments, cindy.

    sisterhood,
    maggie

    Maggie I had these comments in my notes
    CA 125 can be falsely positive with peritoneal inflammation, infection or radiation injury. Can be normal in women with vaginal metastasis, may not predict recurrence in the abscence of other clinical findings. I have page 29 NCCN guidelines indicated on that page of notes. So I would say a cold could influence the CA 125. Here's hoping that your repeat CA 125 goes down when your cold goes away.

    I am hoping that my breakout of shingles made my CA 125 go up so much last time. I have repeat lab on December 10th. I still have effects of the shingles (tingling in my back and abdomen, with some chills with no fever at times). So I hope those go away in time for my next test.

    Hope you cold gets better soon. In peace and caring.
  • maggie_wilson
    maggie_wilson Member Posts: 596
    #5
    Ro10 said:

    Maggie I had these comments in my notes
    CA 125 can be falsely positive with peritoneal inflammation, infection or radiation injury. Can be normal in women with vaginal metastasis, may not predict recurrence in the abscence of other clinical findings. I have page 29 NCCN guidelines indicated on that page of notes. So I would say a cold could influence the CA 125. Here's hoping that your repeat CA 125 goes down when your cold goes away.

    I am hoping that my breakout of shingles made my CA 125 go up so much last time. I have repeat lab on December 10th. I still have effects of the shingles (tingling in my back and abdomen, with some chills with no fever at times). So I hope those go away in time for my next test.

    Hope you cold gets better soon. In peace and caring.

    ro, thanx alot for the info

    i'm sorry to hear you've had shingles and still have some of the effects. what a drag that must be. my primary doctor has offered me a shingles vaccine, and i never thought about having one. i may now. as i said, when my cold is gone, i will definitely get another ca 125, just to know if having an infection made a difference.

    i sure hope those shingle effects are long gone by the time you have your labs on the 10th. i bet that will make a difference.

    again, thanx,

    sisterhood,
    maggie
  • jazzy1
    jazzy1 Member Posts: 1,379
    #6
    maggie_wilson said:

    ro, thanx alot for the info

    i'm sorry to hear you've had shingles and still have some of the effects. what a drag that must be. my primary doctor has offered me a shingles vaccine, and i never thought about having one. i may now. as i said, when my cold is gone, i will definitely get another ca 125, just to know if having an infection made a difference.

    i sure hope those shingle effects are long gone by the time you have your labs on the 10th. i bet that will make a difference.

    again, thanx,

    sisterhood,
    maggie

    Google
    Try to Google and amazing to see what you find. Most of them seem to center around ovarian which follows the CA 125 marker quite closely.

    Happy reading...
    Jan
  • upsofloating
    upsofloating Member Posts: 466 Member
    #7
    I don't know if there is any
    I don't know if there is any way to confirm the cause in situations like this, but my first "recurrence" came about with spike in ca125: 20s to 200s. CT showed enlarged groin area lymph nodes, 3 months later ca125 back to 20s and nodes resolving; no treatment. I had just had significant bladder infection a few weeks before the routine follow-up testing started. No real explanation of this from docs, however a recurrence did occur some months later in different lymph nodes. It sure is a squirrelly disease.
    -Annie
  • hopeful girl 1
    hopeful girl 1 Member Posts: 454
    #8
    upsofloating said:

    I don't know if there is any
    I don't know if there is any way to confirm the cause in situations like this, but my first "recurrence" came about with spike in ca125: 20s to 200s. CT showed enlarged groin area lymph nodes, 3 months later ca125 back to 20s and nodes resolving; no treatment. I had just had significant bladder infection a few weeks before the routine follow-up testing started. No real explanation of this from docs, however a recurrence did occur some months later in different lymph nodes. It sure is a squirrelly disease.
    -Annie

    Maggie
    Maggie,

    Try not to worry too much, something we all do a lot of in this world of our "new normal." I know I do, unfortunately. I was already a worrier by nature before the diagnosis. To pass along the advise of my oncologist's nurse given to me recently, get off the internet today (researching), and relax and watch a good movie. :)

    I thought that was good advice to me, yet I continue to got online because we need to be informed at the same time, which helps us be able to ask intelligent questions at our appointments. I have been busy worrying about my platelet count right now-which is at 21,000 per last test. This Tuesday it will be 4 weeks since my 6th/last chemo.

    For you--I would imagine that many factors can throw off the CA125 test since it is a blood test.

    Infact, as an example of a blood test issue, my platelet count jumped upward one day last week by 7,000 platelets and the next day came down by 8,000. My oncologist mentioned to me he does not think that was a true jump, so apparently he thought there was an issue on that bloodtest, that it was not registered correctly. And let me tell you, he has always been correct on tests that he didn't agree with.

    So perhaps with your cold, and losing your voice, it is having an effect on the CA125. Everything effects everything else in our bodies. Try to relax.....think positive thoughts.....visualize......and laugh alot. I read that laughing alot boosts the whole immune system.

    When will you be going for another CA125 test?

    Wishing you a peaceful day.

    Cindy
  • maggie_wilson
    maggie_wilson Member Posts: 596
    #9
    hopeful girl 1 said:

    Maggie
    Maggie,

    Try not to worry too much, something we all do a lot of in this world of our "new normal." I know I do, unfortunately. I was already a worrier by nature before the diagnosis. To pass along the advise of my oncologist's nurse given to me recently, get off the internet today (researching), and relax and watch a good movie. :)

    I thought that was good advice to me, yet I continue to got online because we need to be informed at the same time, which helps us be able to ask intelligent questions at our appointments. I have been busy worrying about my platelet count right now-which is at 21,000 per last test. This Tuesday it will be 4 weeks since my 6th/last chemo.

    For you--I would imagine that many factors can throw off the CA125 test since it is a blood test.

    Infact, as an example of a blood test issue, my platelet count jumped upward one day last week by 7,000 platelets and the next day came down by 8,000. My oncologist mentioned to me he does not think that was a true jump, so apparently he thought there was an issue on that bloodtest, that it was not registered correctly. And let me tell you, he has always been correct on tests that he didn't agree with.

    So perhaps with your cold, and losing your voice, it is having an effect on the CA125. Everything effects everything else in our bodies. Try to relax.....think positive thoughts.....visualize......and laugh alot. I read that laughing alot boosts the whole immune system.

    When will you be going for another CA125 test?

    Wishing you a peaceful day.

    Cindy

    thanx, cindy
    i will request another ca 125 when my cold is completely gone; can't hurt. in the meantime, good advice from your nurse. i find the nurses are amonst the most knowledgeble and wisest.

    hope your platelets get where they need to be, soon.

    sisterhood,
    maggie

Discussion Boards