Another question about CEA levels

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Sam725
Sam725 Member Posts: 87 Member
edited March 2014 in Colorectal Cancer #1
Hi,
Just have a question. I know CEA levels are not the be all end all thing but I seen here on the site people with CEA in the hundreds. My husbands was 1.1 pre surgery and then 0.5, 0.5, 0.4,0.6, 0.4 and now its 0.2 which is 1 1/2years later. 1.1 seems real low to me and just wonder if it's best to just not put all our faith in the numbers. He has a CT next week, the first one since he had his second surgery last July ( had some things show up on the PET, all scar tissue). Just want some opinions. I am sure you all know I have the anxiety thingy going on. Thanks!

Sandy

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  • shmurciakova
    shmurciakova Member Posts: 906 Member
    #2
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    Hi Sandy,
    Wow, our lab only goes down to 0.5 or else it just says "less than 0.5". Clearly 0.2 is hardly detectable and is excellent...1.1 is a very low number as well, but when dealing with CEA you are looking for a steady rise which would indicate that there could be a recurrence. For example, when I had my lung mets my CEA went from 0.5 to 0.9, then 1.4 or so , then 3.6 or something like that....Sounds like your husband is doing well and I would feel pretty confident about his upcoming scan. Of course there are some tumors that do not produce CEA, but mine did even though the numbers were very low.
    I hope that helps,
    Susan H.
  • AuthorUnknown
    AuthorUnknown Member Posts: 1,537 Member
    #3
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    Hi,

    Just popped in to read a minute. The CEA sounds very low and I would not worry so much about that number. I agree that things are sounding good for you. I also understand about the worry. My hubby was dx'd in 6/05. Today I found out that his CEA is up to 216. Two months ago it was 37. We have changed meds so we will see how things go. Worry is normal for us but try not to panic at this point.

    Good luck on scans.

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