CEA is a miserable test and something should be developed to replace it. Maybe the work being done with liquid biopsies will be the answer. If you do a search here, you'll find my posts on CEA as it relates to me. I would take your numbers any day as I've been unable to move on for 4 years because m...

Not much more to add from the others. I too had H. Pylori and was treated. Not sure if the MRI you had was just focused on your upper abdomen. But you may want to request a CT scan of your chest down to your pelvis. Other than that, your GI doc has a good plan laid out for you. In regards to your CE...

I had a polyp with high grade dysplasia. What you have to understand is high grade dysplasia is precancerous but the last stage before cells turn into cancer. While it's not great, it's not bad news either. But with this in mind, there could still be cancer within the polyp because the biopsies are ...

I agree with the others on the topic of using the word "cured". I appreciate doctors being very optimistic as this is really needed for cancer patients who are in an extremely vulnerable situation. But I feel it was irresponsible for your doctor to use "cured" with you; especiall...

Not to be a grinch, but I only get some what excited if a new treatment reaches phase 2 clinical trials. If a treatment is in phase 1 trials, then maybe there's some hope. Until then, any magic bullet is only just some pipe dream. There have been tons of promising "cures" in the news to on...

No worries. It's just one of the things you have to just try to relax on. Your CEA number is fantastic taking into account from my understanding you are NED. There are many who would kill for that number. I know for me it would be awesome since before my weird CEA elevation, I've always been on the ...

Normally this is the case that people should have very low levels of CEA. But there are exceptions. And so far I'm one of them. But it seems you're intent on trying to prove a point so I've said my peace.

You need to ask what the normal range for the lab your doctor uses is. This will also give you an indication on the assay method that particular lab is using. As I said typically for the Bayer Siemens test normal for a non smoker is 3 and below. For the Roche test, normal is about 5 and below. Your ...

My doc said he doesn't treat on a number alone. And that's what CEA is a number. Yes the absolute value and the trend (if it's climbing and how significantly) is important. But he said definitively, he doesn't put anyone on chemo just because their CEA is high. He has to see physical evidence of can...

As radnyc has stated, there needs to be a better test than CEA. There are people who have low CEA numbers but have very advanced disease progression. And then you have those with higher than normal CEA with no evidence of disease found. Ranges of what is normal depends on the lab itself and the type...

Yes. It said skull base on the order but it actually did include my head. It was also discussed in the scan report by the radiologist as being clear. That was the only variable of where I hadn't had a scan done. But the PET/CT has now ruled that part out.

Thank you both. Yes, this CEA mess I'm in is has been very tiresome. It's similar to you walking a desert and you see water in sight. But every time you think you're close, the water keeps moving. My follow up scans have always been clear and you would think that would be reason for celebration. But...

So here's an update on my situation. Had my follow up with my doc on Monday. Had blood work done and a chat with him about my situation. He still doesn't know why my CEA is so far out of whack. Again says it could be stress related. But he's not sure. I just got my blood work results today. CEA is d...

It varies. The first oncologist I had would look through all the scans (CT and PET). Because he did this in front of me and explained the different things he was looking at, I got some knowledge where I would look at my own scans now. I definitely don't have the experience and training as doctors an...

I have to interject something about scans. CT scans are also able to pick up lesions and tumor locations along with any affected lymph nodes. Having an MRI just produces a different picture and image of any suspicious location. The common scan method used for surveillance is a CT scan. Usually an MR...