CEA fluctuations

[Mattie61]

I haven't found alot on the board about "fluctuating CEA's over 5.0"..... So thought I would share my experience in the event this happens to someone else.

My CEA is consistently in the 1.7-1.9 range. Twice this year (march and september) by CEA jumped to the 6.5 range. I just had my september CEA retested and again fell back to 1.2.

The Onc could not explain it....lab error, maybe inflamation? I asked if this meant it was a poor indicator for me. And he said not necessarily and they would keep watching it. Unfortuantely I never had that test done before surgery when I had massive amounts of disease.

In hindsight it wasn't worth freaking over.

Sue

[SkiFletch]

Although hers is elevated a little more normally than yours since she is a smoker, you and BevG should get together for a random CEA spike party

[CRguy]

The Onc could not explain it....lab error, maybe inflamation?

Any known or recurrent seasonal allergies (plants, trees, grasses in your area ??? Sept to March'ish is also house dust mite season indoors... ????? so allergic inflammation is possible.

NOT freaking...a good thing !
Cheers
CRguy

[Mattie61]

Thanks guys,

Wish I had more control in the freaking out category.....

Appreciate your notes.

Sue

[beth568]

Thanks for sharing this. Important information to store away for those of us facing testing down the road...anything I can read that will help me not to freak out is a HUGE help!

[dianetavegia]

CRGuy said:

Any known or recurrent seasonal allergies (plants, trees, grasses in your area ??? Sept to March'ish is also house dust mite season indoors... ????? so allergic inflammation is possible.

Wow, I had my CEA done with a stye, an ingrown and infected hair under my arm pit and horrible sinus/ allergies. It was 6.4 when it's been 4 for 2 1/2 years. I did some research and saw that benign rectal polyps (I have HORRIBLE hemorrhoids that my gastro thinks we might have to remove so does THAT count?) and diverticulitis which are also listed as any inflammation that can cause a false reading.

I know.... I'm grasping at straws.

[Badass]

My oncologist said that chemo itself can cause CEA reading to go up.

[dianetavegia]

I read that NON cancer patients generally have CEA's that we consider 'normal' for us after cancer.

Most normal persons have detectable concentrations of circulating CEA. Approximately 85% of adults have CEA levels less than 2.5 ng/mL, while 95% have levels less than 5.0 ng/mL. CEA levels are slightly higher in men than women. The median level is 3.4 ng/mL in men and 2.5 ug/mL in women. Healthy persons seldom have levels above 10 ng/mL.

I read that drinking a lot of TEA can raise a CA-119 way out of range and has been proven in studies.

Elevated levels are also frequently seen in other gastrointestinal diseases including peptic ulcer, pancreatitis, diverticulitis, and inflammatory bowel disease. Benign diseases rarely produce CEA serum levels >10ng/mL

Bowel obstruction results in higher CEA concentrations in patients with colorectal cancer. Decompression alone reduces serum CEA level.

This makes me wonder if chronic constipation can cause a slightly elevated CEA.

Just some Poop for thought!

[dianetavegia]

So I spoke with my oncologist today about the CEA. He had NO idea that patients should not take biotin prior to blood work. He had NO idea that diverticulitis can cause an elevated CEA. I gave him the whole list of things I'd found. His answer was 'CEA is not really specific in dx'ing, etc., and we watch for trend ....

We must be our own health advocates!

[SoConfused]

I had no idead Biotin can increase CEA levels ... where did you find that information Diane? Is this the same biotin that most take for hair/nails? I take this and am now curious to learn more about how this may have been affecting my numbers.

[dianetavegia]

YES!!! I didn't save the link but will see if I can find it.

[dianetavegia]

In patients receiving therapy with high biotin doses (ie, >5 mg/day), no sample should be taken until at least eight hours after the last biotin administration.

Biotin is found in Brewer's Yeast! (edited to correct this statement)

https://www.labcorp.com/wps/portal/!ut/p/c1/04_SB8K8xLLM9MSSzPy8xBz9CP0os_hACzO_QCM_IwMLXyM3AyNjMycDU2dXQwN3M6B8JG55AwMCuv088nNT9SP1o8zjQ11Ngg09LY0N_N2DjQw8g439TfyM_MzMLAz0Q_QjnYGKIvEqKsiNKDfUDVQEAARgwHA!/dl2/d1/L0lJWmltbUEhL3dQRUJGUUFoTlFBaERhQUVBWEtHL1lJNXlsdyEhLzdfVUU0UzFJOTMwT0dTMjBJUzNPNE4yTjY2ODAvdmlld1Rlc3Q!/?testId=408053

It also says that women who have been treated with monoclonal mouse antibodies (FSH for infertility) will not have accurate CEA's.

[hannahw]

It's interesting, a lot of patients take every little tick in their CEA very seriously but doctors watch for trends. I remember my Dad's onc giving us a big lecture that amounted to "take a chill, CEA is not the be all end all. Most everyone has it, lots of things not cancer related effect it." At the time, it felt like a lecture. But over time, we've realized what an incredible stress reducer that information was. I can't remember the specific stats he quoted, but basically, there are far more people for whom CEA is essentially worthless than there are people for whom it is a good predictor.

Understandably, some patients really want to find a silver bullet for identifying when their cancer might become active. CEA can sometimes do this. But more often it seems to result in mountains being made of molehills. I've seen a lot of people come on this site in a panic over their CEA and it turns out to be nothing. We all want to be diligent, but at what cost to sanity? It's one piece to a complicated puzzle.

[SoConfused]

Thank you, Diane, for sharing that link. It's very helpful ... always something new to learn on this journey.

[jobasar]

Thanks Diane for this info.. I had to look this up to come across it because my CEA was up a smudge. 2.2 last appt 2.8 and yesterday slightly over 3.5. Well, I was freaking out but I think maybe stress, deprived sleep, and not eating well with the stress of moving out of a home that was a home for last 12 yrs. I feel fine and great and exercise all the time. I even out beat many of my friends that were helping us move. They rested and I kept going and going. I am tired now but I really need to do is unpack and get things done... Thank goodness it's Spring Break and off for two weeks. My scans have been good so I hope it's a fluke and stays that way. Sigh.

Allie

Says Don't Worry, Be Happy! Not now because I am worried. At least it wasn't a huge jump in CEA but enough that onc. said labs were good but slightly elevated. I guess scan and to make sure. Kick it's butt. It is not going to win....