CA125 Increased during chemo?

very worried husband
very worried husband Member Posts: 88
in Colorectal Cancer #1
Dear All,

I reached china 3 days before and my wife started her 4th chemo yesterday. Not bad so far except that she feels v v tired and didnot move from the bed at all since yesterday!!!
while talking to her onc, I asked him if I could have her blood results before surgery, after surgery and after chemo treatments( BTW I did not know anything about these questions, but this amazing forum help me to do some research, and I was able to ask the doctor some questions). The doctor said my wife is healthy and so far the treatment is not bad... I was a bit relieved to see that CEA was 1.55 just before surgery, then dropped to 0.5 just before the start of first chemo and after 2nd chemo was 0.98.
The only thing which worried me was CA 125, it was 11.9 before surgery, then it increased to 51.7 after the 2nd chemo.....so in one and half months it has increased to 51.7 whereas normal range is 0-35.....Has anyone experienced this, or any info as to what is happening? is it bad???

A little background. My wife diagnosed with colon cancer stage 3b in January. 15CM of colon removed, 3/29 lymph nodes had cancer......Tumor markers were normal at the time of surgery....

Thanks in advance for your answers...

Comments

  • luvmum
    luvmum Member Posts: 457 Member
    #2
    CEA and CA125?
    I don't know much about the differences between CA125 and CEA. I thought CEA is the tumor marker for colon ca and CA 125 is for other types of cancer.

    I hope your wife can cope with the chemo well.
  • Buckwirth
    Buckwirth Member Posts: 1,258 Member
    #3
    Blood tests
    Show a lot of things, and, during chemo, it is normal for some of them to be outside the normal range.

    most importantly you want to watch the white and red blood cell numbers. A little below normal is ok, but too low and they will hold up chemo or prescribe booster drugs.

    CA-125 is a Colon Cancer marker:

    CA 125

    CA125 is an antigen present on 80 percent of nonmucinous ovarian carcinomas. It is defined by a monoclonal antibody ( OC125 ) that was generated by immunizing laboratory mice with a cell line established from human ovarian carcinoma. It circulates in the serum of patients with ovarian carcinoma and was therefore investigated for possible use as a marker.

    CA125 is often elevated in patients with ovarian cancer, its level following the patient's clinical course. With surgical resection or chemotherapy, the level correlates with patient response. Thus, it is superior to other markers such as CEA.

    The CA125 is elevated in other cancers including endometrial, pancreatic, lung, breast, and colon cancer, and in menstruation, pregnancy, endometriosis, and other gynecologic and non gynecologic conditions.

    Because of the low prevalence of ovarian cancer, the test is not itself useful in screening.


    If you want a better answer, you should be able to call the chemo nurse and they can go over the numbers with you.

    Blake
  • very worried husband
    very worried husband Member Posts: 88
    #4
    Buckwirth said:

    Blood tests
    Show a lot of things, and, during chemo, it is normal for some of them to be outside the normal range.

    most importantly you want to watch the white and red blood cell numbers. A little below normal is ok, but too low and they will hold up chemo or prescribe booster drugs.

    CA-125 is a Colon Cancer marker:

    CA 125

    CA125 is an antigen present on 80 percent of nonmucinous ovarian carcinomas. It is defined by a monoclonal antibody ( OC125 ) that was generated by immunizing laboratory mice with a cell line established from human ovarian carcinoma. It circulates in the serum of patients with ovarian carcinoma and was therefore investigated for possible use as a marker.

    CA125 is often elevated in patients with ovarian cancer, its level following the patient's clinical course. With surgical resection or chemotherapy, the level correlates with patient response. Thus, it is superior to other markers such as CEA.

    The CA125 is elevated in other cancers including endometrial, pancreatic, lung, breast, and colon cancer, and in menstruation, pregnancy, endometriosis, and other gynecologic and non gynecologic conditions.

    Because of the low prevalence of ovarian cancer, the test is not itself useful in screening.


    If you want a better answer, you should be able to call the chemo nurse and they can go over the numbers with you.

    Blake

    Thanks
    Thanks Blake, Yes her WBC were low, and now she is getting the shots for that. I asked the onc again and he said they are gonna check CA 125 again before the 5th chemo and will see what's happening to them and told me not to worry too much.

    Thanks for your reply

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