Question on CEA, cancer recurrence and psoriasis

[hopeful1]

Hi everyone,
my husband was diagnosed (age 44) with stage 3a colon cancer in 2013. After surgery and 6 months of folfox his CT scans were clear but the CEA has been 4.5 and 4.8 on the last tests. His oncologist told us (after the second test) that this was too high. They have now ordered another CT (the last clear one was 2 and a half months ago) and a PET scan. I have not been able to find any information on cancer recurrence with numbers like these. Has anyone heard of recurrences with similar levels? My husband also has psoriasis (very mild). Has anyone had elevated CEA with mild psoriasis?
Any information is appreciated.

[Deb m]

my husbands cea has had many up's and down's At one time it was as high as 5.7. A pet scan was ordered and everything was clear. He was diagnosed as stage llbT4aNO. His cea continues to have up's and down's and he continues to be ned. He has his 4 year mark coming up. I hope that eases your nerves. I do think is good that your oncologist is being careful though.

[exaussie]

CEA is not always a good indicator, things other than cancer can cause variances. When my son was first diagnosed his level was 30 and it bounced all over the place during chemo. Some people have extremely high numbers that will drop or rise with not having a lot to do with what cancer is doing in their bodies. Some chemos will cause skin irritation, my son had chemo rash some of the time. Check with oncologist if it is too bothersome.

[dianetavegia]

Is your husband very thin?
Does your husband take Biotin for his skin condition?
What lab does your doctor use?

Thin people have higher CEA's than obese.
Men have higher CEA's than women.
Older people (over 60 and then markedly higher over 70 even among those with no cancer history) have higher CEA's than younger.
Over 500 mg of Biotin a day can affect a CEA.
Labcorp has a high normal and then a 'means' (average). 4.7 is their 'means'.

However, my CEA went to 4.1 with a clear CT and 6 months later it was 6.4 with a 1.5 cm liver met.

[hopeful1]

Thanks for the replies.
The only medication he currently takes for the psoriasis is steroid creams so no biotin.
I was surprised that the oncologist was concerned the cea was 4.8 when it was 4.5 previously. She said the test sensitivity wasn't that great that this represented an increase. Still she said she would have liked to see it under 2, which it was when he was on chemo. Interestingly the psoriasis went away completely with chemo but came back after the chemo finished. That's why I'm thinking maybe the psoriasis is causing the cea rise. No psoriasis and cea is under 2. Psoriasis comes back and cea rises to 4.5. Psoriasis is stable and the number is pretty much unchanged.

[Mastan]

Hi everyone,
my husband was diagnosed (age 44) with stage 3a colon cancer in 2013. After surgery and 6 months of folfox his CT scans were clear but the CEA has been 4.5 and 4.8 on the last tests. His oncologist told us (after the second test) that this was too high. They have now ordered another CT (the last clear one was 2 and a half months ago) and a PET scan. I have not been able to find any information on cancer recurrence with numbers like these. Has anyone heard of recurrences with similar levels? My husband also has psoriasis (very mild). Has anyone had elevated CEA with mild psoriasis?
Any information is appreciated.

What was his CEA post surgery before starting up FOLFOX? That is a baseline from which to track tends in the CEA. My CEA was 2.1 post surgery then slowly trended up over a year to about 4.0. It held more or less at 4.0 for another year during which time I was NED. Then in a period of 2 months it spiked to 8.0 and I now have metastatic disease. Everyone is unique. No one can make detailed predictions. Only time will tell what path ones disease will take.

Mark

[mstults]

Get the tests to be sure. If they are clean dont assume they will remain clean. While CEA is not always a good indicator, it is also at times a precursor warning that tumor activity is present. CEA increases can occur months before tumors are detectable by scans. Be proactive.