CEA levels?

[mrshillsey]

Hi folks,

I don’t post here often but do follow the boards.

We are in Australia, amd my DH was diagnosed in August 2017 with stage IV Bc mets to liver, bones and inoperable.

I did ask our Oncologist at the time about tumour markers and he said with initial chemo they often fluctuate so he didn’t want to scare us. So I left it for a while, but recently went thriugh his CEA history with our oncology nurse. His markers have gone from mid 6000 in Seot 2017 to now 4245. That looks still very high to me when I read many of yiur email signatures!

While that marker is gradually reducing, as is the CA 15-3 his CA 125 has increased over the last fortnight.

Any insight as to what this all means would be helpful? We are aware he has a short prognosis but he is tolerating chemo well, and when pain is managed can get up and about for short periods of time.

Thanks in advance

[SweetC80]

Sorry you are here. Some people the tumor markers are good guides some people they are not. Treading down is good. There is a search function that if you type in CEA Levels at the top of the forum you will find so many great threads on this topic. I'm glad your husband is tolerating chemo well and hope he has a good response.

[Shana]

Hi folks,

I don’t post here often but do follow the boards.

We are in Australia, amd my DH was diagnosed in August 2017 with stage IV Bc mets to liver, bones and inoperable.

I did ask our Oncologist at the time about tumour markers and he said with initial chemo they often fluctuate so he didn’t want to scare us. So I left it for a while, but recently went thriugh his CEA history with our oncology nurse. His markers have gone from mid 6000 in Seot 2017 to now 4245. That looks still very high to me when I read many of yiur email signatures!

While that marker is gradually reducing, as is the CA 15-3 his CA 125 has increased over the last fortnight.

Any insight as to what this all means would be helpful? We are aware he has a short prognosis but he is tolerating chemo well, and when pain is managed can get up and about for short periods of time.

Thanks in advance

Hi and I'm very sorry that you have to be here but glad that you found this very supportive group.

I was diagnosed Stage IV with mets to liver in December 2016. My CEA level was over 6000 then, it dropped to about 3000 in January 2017 after first chemo infusion. Unfortunately I wasn't able to tolerate 5FU + Oxy and eventually transitioned to my current chemo cocktail in July as outlined in my signature. My CEA was greater than 1650 in July and August 2017. My oncologist decided it wasn't a good marker for me so we stopped testing. CT scan in September 2017 showed shrinkage of liver tumors, CEA was not tested. CT in December 2017 showed continued shrinkage and CEA was tested and fell dramatically to 37.8 which was a happy surprise! I have not had a CA15-3 or CA125 so I can't offer any input on either of those numbers but would be interested in learning more about those markers.

Best wishes to you and your DH as you travel this journey. I hope he continues to tolerate his chemo and is able to get out and about when he feels better.

Shana

[mrshillsey]

Thank you for replying, I’ll give searching a go too. Many thanks!