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Mets and CEA

Posted: Sat May 13, 2017 2:12 pm
by Lydia666
I was wondering if anyone on here had extremely low CEA and had mets at the same time.

My CEA isn't deemed representative since it was 0.9 at diagnosis and had stayed that way throughout. Most recently, it was 0.4. Now i have these 2 lung spots which need to be rechecked in months and I wonder, if they were mets, could my CEA be 0.4?

Thank you.

Re: Mets and CEA

Posted: Sat May 13, 2017 4:39 pm
by betsydoglover
At diagnosis my colorectal surgeon ran a CEA, BUT Quest never did it (as it turned out later). So no idea of pre-surgery CEA. But since then- even with liver mets - my CEA was usually <0.5. Never got higher than 0.9 (even when I had a lung met). So - CEA is not a good marker for everyone. Wish it were, but it is not.

Re: Mets and CEA

Posted: Sat May 13, 2017 4:43 pm
by jhocno197
Yes, you can have a very low CEA & have mets. Unfortunately.

Re: Mets and CEA

Posted: Sat May 13, 2017 5:29 pm
by CRguy
Lydia666 wrote:I was wondering if anyone on here had extremely low CEA and had mets at the same time.
if they were mets, could my CEA be 0.4?


IF CEA is not a good marker for you, then Yes ... you could have mets with low CEA
I know ... I DID :twisted: mine was NEVER, never over 1.4 even when I had the primary tumour present,
or before VATS removal of the lung met 3 years later.

BUTT you may also not have mets !
so stay positive until some more results tell you exactly what is goin' on !

Cheers and best wishes
CRguy

Re: Mets and CEA

Posted: Sat May 13, 2017 5:51 pm
by Lee
With all the challenges you've endured these last few years, you have every right to be scared. Butt the fact that you were diagnosed stage II with this cancer is generally a good indication that they caught this cancer early.

Is there a concern about your breast cancer?

If you think this will consume you over the next 4 months, can you push for a PET scan? I know they are far and few in Canada, but is there one in your region?

All the best,

Lee

Re: Mets and CEA

Posted: Sat May 13, 2017 8:54 pm
by Lydia666
Lee wrote:With all the challenges you've endured these last few years, you have every right to be scared. Butt the fact that you were diagnosed stage II with this cancer is generally a good indication that they caught this cancer early.

Is there a concern about your breast cancer?

If you think this will consume you over the next 4 months, can you push for a PET scan? I know they are far and few in Canada, but is there one in your region?

All the best,

Lee

Hi Lee,
My breast cancer is no concern at all, it was stage 0 non invasive and i went all out with the double mastectomy for precaution. My colorectal remains the most dangerous out of the 3 i had.
I would have access to a PET if i wanted but am not sure for now. I don't think a PET would catch this even if it was a met, too small. I am going to have to wait this one out.
Thank you.

Re: Mets and CEA

Posted: Mon May 15, 2017 9:08 am
by very worried husband
You could have lung spots for so many reasons. Check my posts. My wife had lung spots less than 1 cm back in 2013, and again end of 2016. They all cleared up in the follow up scans. Her CEA always remained low. hopefully they will be nothing in your case also.

Re: Mets and CEA

Posted: Mon May 15, 2017 9:35 am
by kandj
My husband's CEA was <.5 at diagnosis and he was stage 4 with numerous mets to the liver. Ironically, his highest CEA was 10.5 and that was during chemo following liver resection. I think his raises with inflammation personally.

Re: Mets and CEA

Posted: Mon May 15, 2017 11:05 am
by sdino
Hi Lydia - yes you can have mets with a low CEA number, look at my signature for my wife. We just completed a CT scan last week and Folfox+Avastin+Oxi is currently working on shrinkage on colon/lung mets as well as her CEA levels. Initial CEA was 16 when DX'd. 14 bilateral Lung mets are still there, but CEA is now hovering around 0.5. I use CEA as a guidance/background check.... The CT's are my go to assessment tools. Wishing you the best ! sdino.

Re: Mets and CEA

Posted: Tue May 16, 2017 8:23 am
by lpas
Lydia,

I'm so sorry they made you do a scan when you were sick. It just sucks that you're now having to go through this stress--most likely for nothing. I had blood work done a few weeks ago when I had the flu and I wish now that I hadn't. CEA was normal but a number of other things were wonky.

Keeping fingers and everything else crossed that this is just another speed bump on the road to recovery!

Re: Mets and CEA

Posted: Wed May 17, 2017 8:13 am
by Lydia666
Thank you for everyone 's input. I will keep you posted.

Re: Mets and CEA

Posted: Sat Aug 04, 2018 6:15 pm
by Murb123
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