ca 125 test

hopeful girl 1 said:

CA125
I just finished my treatment plan for uterine 3C.

The CA125 is a cancer marker blood test. There is a protein in the blood that spikes, that is an indicator of cancer, as I understand it.

Anything between 0-34 (or something like that)is normal. For example after my surgery in March 2010 my CA 125 was elevated at 300. After chemo and radiation, my CA125 last tested at 5.
My oncologist's nurse said do not worry, it never goes to zero.

For some people this cancer marker test is not a good one to follow after treatment. If the number did not rise for the person by that much or it was not tracked, then it is not a good measurement tool. I was told this test will be a good measurement tool for me, because after surgery it was 300, and it kept dropping with chemos, and then went down to 5.

This test is used as part of follow up when treatments are completed, along with exams and or scans.

Hope this is helpful.

Cindy

Hissy_Fitz said:

Generally, a normal CA125 is
Generally, a normal CA125 is 0-35 but some labs use a different numbering system. In actuality, however, the most important thing seems to be tracking a trend. We all have varying CA125 baselines, some quite low and others much higher, and what doctors usually look for in determining whether or not a recurrence might be present is an upward trend - three successive CA125 tests that show doubling (or more) of numbers: from 7 to 15 to 25, for example. For most people, 25 would not be abnormal, but for a person who has been a 7 for months and months, it's considered high. On the other hand, there are plenty of women who have never had cancer, who have their CA125 checked because of familial risk, and their number might be in the teens. For them, that's the norm.

You will usually reach your nadir (low point) within 90 days of completing your initial treatment. Many doctors use that as your baseline.

My doctor says that any number less than 10 is the same number, whether it's 1 or 9. The lower the number, the harder it becomes to detect very minor changes. When the machines are reset at the end of the day, they can easily be a point or two off.

My CA125 was 4,000 prior to surgery, and at its lowest was 4.8, with 7.5 being the latest. I am 15 1/2 months past diagnosis and 8 1/2 months out of active treatment. I have 3 more maintenance treatments - Taxol only - and then, by Feb 1st, I will be done, for awhile, at least. By that time I will have had 8 infusions of Carboplatin, 20 infusions of Taxol, 6 units of blood, 4 surgeries (not counting the trigger thumb release), and a partridge in a pear tree. Oops...wrong list. Happy Holidays to all my CSN sisters!

Carlene

lindaprocopio said:

Let's ALL sing Charlene's song!
For me, it's:

6 rounds of carbo; 23 rounds of taxol; 28 rounds of radiation; 3 brachytherapies; 3 blood transfusions; 3 rounds of Doxil; 3 Christmas's in treatment; and a partridge in a pear tree!

SING IT, LADIES! What's YOUR song?

LPack said:

♫
7 infusions of carbo/taxol, 2 rounds of hexalen (112 pills)♫, 11 infusions of cisplatin (blucky), 14 infusions of gemzar♫, 2 more infusions of carrrbooooo, 4 infusions of doxil and counting....., many shots of neulasta, and many more of neupogen, some of neumega but no more♫, very few of procrit♫, 3rd Christmas coming up in treatment, and so glad to be here to t e l l ♫ Y O U! ♫

Love you girls,
Libby ♥