CEA Question

JanJan63
JanJan63 Member Posts: 2,478 Member
in Colorectal Cancer #1

What is normal for a CEA level? I understood it was 3 and under. My doctor just called to say that mine is now down to 5.4 and that 5 and under are normal. I just Googled it and can't seem to find the answer. Can someone please tell me if I'm wrong? I'd love to be only .4 away from normal!

Thanks!

Jan

Comments

  • lhduffer
    lhduffer Member Posts: 90 Member
    #2
    CEA

    Typically anything 5 or under is considered normal by the standards of the test I am given.  Congrats on your level continuing to drop.  You so deserve some great news!

  • JanJan63
    JanJan63 Member Posts: 2,478 Member
    #3
    lhduffer said:

    CEA

    Typically anything 5 or under is considered normal by the standards of the test I am given.  Congrats on your level continuing to drop.  You so deserve some great news!

    Thank you! I now realize I've

    Thank you! I now realize I've been telling everybody that 3 and under is normal so I've been giving the wrong information. Dang!

    Jan

  • beaumontdave
    beaumontdave Member Posts: 1,280 Member
    edited March 2019 #4
    I always heard 1-5 is the

    I always heard 1-5 is the basic normal range, that does put you darn close...............................................Dave

  • Butt
    Butt Member Posts: 352 Member
    #5

    Under 5 or 6. Depends on the level. Unfortunately even a normal CEA doesn’t mean there is no cancer....

  • myAZmountain
    myAZmountain Member Posts: 417 Member
    #6
    Looked at my most recent labs

    Done on February 6, The parameters the lab used for normal was 0-3.   Guess it depends on the lab?

  • abrub
    abrub Member Posts: 2,174 Member
    #7
    It does depend on the lab

    Sloan Kettering considers <5 to be normal; you can't compare CEAs done at different labs.

  • Trubrit
    Trubrit Member Posts: 5,796 Member
    #8
    three and counting

    I was also told 3 and under, so don't worry about giving out the wrong information.  You know that you can go to one Oncologist and hear one thing, and another Oncologist and get a different answer. 

    And congratulatoins on getting down to 5, considering what you have been through across the years, I think that is worth celebrating. 

    Tru

  • Butt
    Butt Member Posts: 352 Member
    #9

    i had a recurrance with a CEA level 6. 5.?My initial one was 2200. We thought it was very sensitive good indicator to me. A month before the scans I was 1.7 and 2 months before 1.2.

  • Annabelle41415
    Annabelle41415 Member Posts: 6,742 Member
    #10
    CEA

    5 and under is normal but you are so close to normal.  Many things can influence the number too so you are doing great.

    Kim

  • JanJan63
    JanJan63 Member Posts: 2,478 Member
    #11
    Thanks everyone! Okay, so I

    Thanks everyone! Okay, so I don't feel like such a dummy. Cancer is serious business and I don't want to give out false information, even if it's just about the CEA level.

    Butt, I know it doesn't mean it's gone. The odds of mine ever being gone are nil but it still is a great level. I'm really hoping it got the biggest tumour this time. And matbe some of the really little ones are gone? 

    What I find so empowering about this immunotherapy treatment is that it tells my body to go after the vancer and targets it for my immune system. It's empowering to know that my own body is what has killed off a bunch of cancer cells. I did it myself! I've been so angry with my body for having this to start with and now I'm proud of it. This feels so awesome!

    Jan 

  • 8colon8
    8colon8 Member Posts: 40 Member
    #12
    Jan

    Jan

    Congratulation on the great CEA result.  My wife's oncologist told us that 2 and under is good. Her CEA report showed standard range to be under 5. All this time we were praying for it to be under 2, when it has already came under 5 from the last 3 tests (4.9, 2.9, and 2.8). Shows how lost we can get when over focusing...lol 

  • JanJan63
    JanJan63 Member Posts: 2,478 Member
    #13
    8colon8 said:

    Jan

    Jan

    Congratulation on the great CEA result.  My wife's oncologist told us that 2 and under is good. Her CEA report showed standard range to be under 5. All this time we were praying for it to be under 2, when it has already came under 5 from the last 3 tests (4.9, 2.9, and 2.8). Shows how lost we can get when over focusing...lol 

    Hooray!

    Those are great numbers! Good for her!! Give her a congratulatory hug for me, please!

    Jan

  • Butt
    Butt Member Posts: 352 Member
    #14

    CEA is used in most cases to see if chemo is working. Low CEA doesn’t mean the cancer is out. I was told CEA may start rising usually a few months before the scan can pick cancer in either newly diagnosed or in a position of recurrance. It definitely wasn t my case, again my CEA was around 2200 when the treatments got started. We believed it was very sensitive for me but it wasn t the case. Butt.

  • ron50
    ron50 Member Posts: 1,723 Member
    #15
    When I was diagnosed (long ago in a faraway galaxy)

    Under 6 was considerred normal. with stage3c cancer into 6nodes My cea at the time was 1.6. With very few exceptions since then it has remained at less than 0.5. My surgeon always said that the sharp rises and falls were of more importance than the number. Congratulations on the drop to 5.4. Ron.

  • Lily Flower
    Lily Flower Member Posts: 260 Member
    #16
    JanJan63 said:

    Thanks everyone! Okay, so I

    Thanks everyone! Okay, so I don't feel like such a dummy. Cancer is serious business and I don't want to give out false information, even if it's just about the CEA level.

    Butt, I know it doesn't mean it's gone. The odds of mine ever being gone are nil but it still is a great level. I'm really hoping it got the biggest tumour this time. And matbe some of the really little ones are gone? 

    What I find so empowering about this immunotherapy treatment is that it tells my body to go after the vancer and targets it for my immune system. It's empowering to know that my own body is what has killed off a bunch of cancer cells. I did it myself! I've been so angry with my body for having this to start with and now I'm proud of it. This feels so awesome!

    Jan 

    Hip hip hooray! As we ALL

    Hip hip hooray! As we ALL know it doesn't mean it's gone but in your case it IS a big deal. You have come a long way. I"m so happy for you! 

  • Betsydoglover
    Betsydoglover Member Posts: 1,248 Member
    #17
    CEA test normal range

    There are 2 different CEA tests now.  They use different reagents, so their range of "normal" values is different.  The older Siemens/Bayer method (still the most commonly used I think) defines normal as <3.0 for non-smokers.  The newer Roche method has a higher normal range - I think it is <5.0 for non-smokers.

    Finding out the method your Lab uses (it should show range on Lab report) should help you interpret the result.  If the Roche method was used, then 5.4 is, I think, within the noise range of normal.  If the other method was used, then there is an increase, but I'm guessing it is not that significant.  You should ask your onc about this.

     

    Take care,

    Betsy

  • 8colon8
    8colon8 Member Posts: 40 Member
    #18
    JanJan63 said:

    Hooray!

    Those are great numbers! Good for her!! Give her a congratulatory hug for me, please!

    Jan

    (No subject)

    Wink

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