tumor marker rise and on arimidex

roxanne53
roxanne53 Member Posts: 154
edited March 2014 in Breast Cancer #1
I am wondering how anyone's reccurance was noticed initially??
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

  • MyTurnNow
    MyTurnNow Member Posts: 2,686 Member
    #2
    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.
  • chenheart
    chenheart Member Posts: 5,159
    #3
    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♥
  • survives
    survives Member Posts: 254 Member
    #4
    chenheart 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♥

    Tumor markes...I HATE them
    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.
  • missrenee
    missrenee Member Posts: 2,136 Member
    #5
    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?
  • chenheart
    chenheart Member Posts: 5,159
    #6
    missrenee 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
    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♥
  • missrenee
    missrenee Member Posts: 2,136 Member
    #7
    chenheart 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♥

    Thanks, Miss Chen
    Also, so glad yours on movin' on down the road! Good luck!
    Hugs, Renee
  • putzie
    putzie Member Posts: 66 Member
    #8
    missrenee 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
    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!!!!!
  • Sally5
    Sally5 Member Posts: 87
    #9
    putzie 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!!!!!

    tumor markers
    Thanks for this info.
    I was wondering about this..... trying not to be paranoid.

    I wish there was one good test.

    Merry (Sally5)
  • roxanne53
    roxanne53 Member Posts: 154
    #10
    MyTurnNow 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
    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

    Roxanne
  • roxanne53
    roxanne53 Member Posts: 154
    #11
    chenheart 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
    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.
  • roxanne53
    roxanne53 Member Posts: 154
    #12
    putzie 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
    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.

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