Tumor gone, cea level of 1

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Caat55
Posts: 694
Joined: Sat Dec 23, 2017 6:01 pm

Tumor gone, cea level of 1

Postby Caat55 » Fri Jan 19, 2018 7:40 pm

MRI shows my tumor is gone, just thickening of rectal walls
CEA level is 1.
Do I still go forward with surgery and 4 months of chemo?
S
Do at 55 y.o. Female
Dx 9/26/17 RC Stage 3
Completed 33 rad. tx, xeolda 12/8/17
MRI and PET 1/18 sign. regression
Surgery 1/31/18 Ileostomy, clean margins, no lymph node involved
Port 3/1/2018
Oxaliplatin and Xeloda start 3/22/18
Last Oxaliplatin 7/5/18, 5 rounds
CT NED 9/2018
PET NED 12/18
Clear Colonoscopy 2/19, 5/20

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Kick'nAssCancer'sAss
Posts: 248
Joined: Tue Feb 25, 2014 4:38 pm

Re: Tumor gone, cea level of 1

Postby Kick'nAssCancer'sAss » Fri Jan 19, 2018 7:55 pm

Yes

You are stage III which means you have node involvement. Do yourself a favour have the surgery and do the mop up chemo and put that final nail in the cancer coffin. I wanted to be able to say I did everything possible in case I had a recurrence there would be no 'what if's' I also had no tumor after chemo/rad.
53M Dx RC Halloween 2013
CT & BONE scan
MRI/T3N0M0 1 suspicious LN
5 wks chemo/rad
LAR open TME Feb 26/14
temp bag
0/24 nodes pCR/pathological
Folfox (8) Mar 28-Jul 4 /14
Aug/14 clear CT scan
Aug 27/14 reversal
Feb/15 clear scope
July/15 Feb/16 Feb/17 Feb/18 clear CT scans
Feb/18 clear scope
Sept 19 clear CT scan & DISCHARGED :P
Mar/23 clear scope
CEA 1.6 @ dx
1.6,1.4,1.7,2.4,2.9, 2.7 2.3 2.5 2.2 2.1 2.5 2.6 2.7
2.7 Sept 19
0-4 normal
https://kickingasscancersass.blogspot.com/

Caat55
Posts: 694
Joined: Sat Dec 23, 2017 6:01 pm

Re: Tumor gone, cea level of 1

Postby Caat55 » Fri Jan 19, 2018 7:58 pm

Thank you. Magical thinking and fear of surgery chemo drive that question. Just wish we all didn't have to go through this. .
Do at 55 y.o. Female
Dx 9/26/17 RC Stage 3
Completed 33 rad. tx, xeolda 12/8/17
MRI and PET 1/18 sign. regression
Surgery 1/31/18 Ileostomy, clean margins, no lymph node involved
Port 3/1/2018
Oxaliplatin and Xeloda start 3/22/18
Last Oxaliplatin 7/5/18, 5 rounds
CT NED 9/2018
PET NED 12/18
Clear Colonoscopy 2/19, 5/20

jep
Posts: 260
Joined: Sun Jun 11, 2017 7:45 pm
Location: New England, USA

Re: Tumor gone, cea level of 1

Postby jep » Fri Jan 19, 2018 8:46 pm

muskokamike wrote:Yes

You are stage III which means you have node involvement. Do yourself a favour have the surgery and do the mop up chemo and put that final nail in the cancer coffin. I wanted to be able to say I did everything possible in case I had a recurrence there would be no 'what if's' I also had no tumor after chemo/rad.


I agree! Very good advice...
Stage IV CC 5/16/17
Loc: recto-sig
Type: Adenocarcinoma
Size: 7.4 cm
Grade: G3
TNM: T3N2M1
LNs: 8/20
BL CEA: .9
LVI: present
Perineural invasion: present
LAR margins: clear (w/in microns)
Folfox (8/17-1/18)
Scope 6/18 - CLEAR! - 2 polyps
PET 10/17/18: 3 pos LNs
Irino + Vecti (11/18)
CEA: 1.7 (2/19)
Xel + rad (5/19)
Surgery: 8/21/19 (aborted)
P1 Trial 10/19 - 12/19
Bypass 12/6/19
Folfox + vecti 1/2/19 - 4/3/20
Kid Fail 5/1/20
Folfiri + Avastin 5/20 - 6/20
bypass 6/29/20
Stivarga 7/18/20 -
Home 9/10/20

Rikimaroo
Posts: 436
Joined: Tue Dec 20, 2016 8:48 pm
Location: Florida

Re: Tumor gone, cea level of 1

Postby Rikimaroo » Fri Jan 19, 2018 9:46 pm

Yes do everything don’t make my mistake
RC T3N1M0 12/16
MSS - NRAS Mutation
Chemo Rad, CCR - W&W 5/2017
Recurrence 11/2017
CT Scan 11/2017 Liver Met 5.5cm Stable, Stage IV
LAR/Liver Resect 4/2018
Reversal 10/18
CEA highest 500, lowest .8 throughout process, waiting for latest
Recurrence left vesical/pelvic sidewall - 10/7/2019 resect perm bag,
CEA rise Feb/May 3.7, 8.8, 30, Recurrence in Pelvic
CEA 40 right now, but was 57, so folfiri to beat it back down.
Lots of chemo for the past 4 years.

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Atoq
Posts: 412
Joined: Wed Oct 25, 2017 9:31 am

Re: Tumor gone, cea level of 1

Postby Atoq » Sat Jan 20, 2018 5:09 am

Caat55 wrote:MRI shows my tumor is gone, just thickening of rectal walls
CEA level is 1.
Do I still go forward with surgery and 4 months of chemo?
S

That was really good news! What are your surgeon and oncolog suggesting?

Claudia
1972, 2 kids
Dx rectal cancer 10.2017
T3N2aMX (met left lung 8 mm)
Lynch neg
CEA 1.8
Neoadjuvant chemoradio Xeloda + 25x2 Gy
05.12.17 laparotomic surg. for blockage, colostomy
25.01.18 laparotomic lar, hysterectomy, ileostomy
05.03.18 core needle lung biopsy
07.05.18 CAT scan, lung met 11 mm
04.06.18 ileo reversal
26.06.18 wedge VATS
24.08.18, 31.02.19 CAT scan
12.09.18, 06.02.19 scope, CEA 1.6
19.11.18 scope
20.08.19 CAT, eco
13.09.19 scope, CEA 1.2
18.03.20 CAT, eco, scope, NED
29.11.20 CAT, NED
2023 NED

[Ana & Alex]
Posts: 96
Joined: Tue Feb 14, 2017 5:14 pm
Location: Austria

Re: Tumor gone, cea level of 1

Postby [Ana & Alex] » Sat Jan 20, 2018 7:46 am

Dear Caat55,

Your body, your choice.
There are lot of information about radical and wait and see approaches on this forum, if you search for it you will find a wealth of experiences. There are good and bad to both sides.

That said, it really comes to the extent in which you are willing to take chances.

I had a really good clinical response after radiochemotherapy, my tumour was almost gone and you could only see scar tissue and a thickening of the wall. The lymph nodes had all a reduced size right before my surgery.

Nonetheless i went for it, as radical as it gets and when the pathology came ta-da! T2n2!

I was 29 at the time and I didn't want to take any chances at all. I chose surgery with a colostomy and was really happy about it when I read the report. I irrigate and feel very good about my self and my body and I am very proud of myself for taking this route.

I did the chemo as well.. and although I could only make 4 cycles of Oxaliplatin, I did 7 of Xeloda and I would do more if my oncologist would recommend me to.

If my cancer comes back I know I did everything in my power to stay alive, and I will have to accept that.

But I guess it is much harder to accept something that happens to you when you feel you could have made something more to prevent it.

My heart goes out to people like Rikimaroo who tried to go the other route you are considering and are now challenged with a greater battle.

Don't give up dear Rikimaroo, even it is difficult to accept the whole thing - you are still in the fight and still have a chance of hoping to overcome this!

Whatever your decision, make sure you can live with it.

I personally, if I have cancer when I'm an old lady, I think I'll pass radiation and chemo - but surgery with the right surgeon is always welcome. IMO :P

Good luck with your decision!

Love,
Ana
Dx @ 29 yo. Mum (2 y.o.) & Wife

12/2016: Rectal AdenoCa G2. CEA 4.3. RAS Wild. MSS. IIIB.
01 - 03/2017: 28 RTx + CHT 2,5 g/d Capecit.
03 - 06/2017: Suplemments and Cimetidine.
05/2017: TME/TAMIS + permanent Colostomy CEA 0.5
05/2017: ypT2N2aM0 (4/15), good cCR, limited pCR
06 - 8/2017: 4x CapOx 3,5 g/d (2x Oxi reduced to 80%)
09 -11/2017: 3x Capecit. monotherapy 4g/d
12/2017: Aspirin, Vit. D3, Curcumin, Multivitamin.

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susie0915
Posts: 945
Joined: Wed Aug 02, 2017 8:17 am
Facebook Username: Susan DeGrazia Hostetter
Location: Michigan

Re: Tumor gone, cea level of 1

Postby susie0915 » Sat Jan 20, 2018 8:32 am

After I finished chemo/radiation my surgeon did a sigmoidoscopy and said all that was left was scar tissue. I also had a pet scan that showed no evidence of disease especially in the distal rectal area. And my CEA was less than .5. However, after surgery the pathology report did show minimal residual cancer cells remain in the area where the tumor was. My advice is to go ahead as planned as until the specimen is examined cannot know for sure if there still are cancer cells. I also asked my oncologist why I needed to do chemo after and she told me that even though chance of recurrence is low she could not guarantee cancer cell did not get into my bloodstream.
58 yrs old Dx @ 55
5/15 DX T3N0MO
6/15 5 wks chemo/rad
7/15 sigmoidoscopy/only scar tissue left
8/15 PET scan NED
9/15 LAR
0/24 nodes
10/15 blockage. surgery,early ileo rev, c-diff inf :(
12/15 6 rds of xelox
5/16 CT lung scarring/inflammation
9/16 clear colonoscopy
4/17 C 4mm lung nod
10/17 pel/abd CT NED
11/17 CEA<.5
1/18 CT/Lung no change in 4mm nodule
5/18 CEA<.5, CT pel/abd/lung NED
11/18 CEA .6
5/19 CT NED, CEA <.5
10/19 Clear colonscopy
11/19 CEA <.5

Basil
Posts: 275
Joined: Thu Mar 16, 2017 12:33 pm

Re: Tumor gone, cea level of 1

Postby Basil » Sat Jan 20, 2018 1:33 pm

If you are stage iii, chemo significantly decreases tour chance of a recurrence. I’d do it 100 out of 100 times.
40 y/o male (now 46), kids 11 & 14.
Dx 3/16/17, rectal cancer s3,t3,n1,m0
PROSPCT trial (FOLFOX in lieu of chemorad)
FOLFOX 4/5/17 - 6/26/17
LAR 7/31/17, temp ileo
pathological complete response
Adjuvant chemo cancelled (IDEA Study)
Ileo reversed 9/25/17
NED
1 year scans - clear
2 year scans - clear
3 year scans - clear
4 year scans - clear
5 year scans - clear (considered cured)

Caat55
Posts: 694
Joined: Sat Dec 23, 2017 6:01 pm

Re: Tumor gone, cea level of 1

Postby Caat55 » Sat Jan 20, 2018 2:03 pm

Again, thank you. I know a need to finish this just scared. Radiation was so hard on me, just starting to feel my new normal. Onward, surgery in 10 days.
S
Do at 55 y.o. Female
Dx 9/26/17 RC Stage 3
Completed 33 rad. tx, xeolda 12/8/17
MRI and PET 1/18 sign. regression
Surgery 1/31/18 Ileostomy, clean margins, no lymph node involved
Port 3/1/2018
Oxaliplatin and Xeloda start 3/22/18
Last Oxaliplatin 7/5/18, 5 rounds
CT NED 9/2018
PET NED 12/18
Clear Colonoscopy 2/19, 5/20

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Atoq
Posts: 412
Joined: Wed Oct 25, 2017 9:31 am

Re: Tumor gone, cea level of 1

Postby Atoq » Sat Jan 20, 2018 2:30 pm

Caat55 wrote:Again, thank you. I know a need to finish this just scared. Radiation was so hard on me, just starting to feel my new normal. Onward, surgery in 10 days.
S


My surgery is scheduled for the 29th, but I have the cat scan and MR scheduled on Monday.

Claudia
1972, 2 kids
Dx rectal cancer 10.2017
T3N2aMX (met left lung 8 mm)
Lynch neg
CEA 1.8
Neoadjuvant chemoradio Xeloda + 25x2 Gy
05.12.17 laparotomic surg. for blockage, colostomy
25.01.18 laparotomic lar, hysterectomy, ileostomy
05.03.18 core needle lung biopsy
07.05.18 CAT scan, lung met 11 mm
04.06.18 ileo reversal
26.06.18 wedge VATS
24.08.18, 31.02.19 CAT scan
12.09.18, 06.02.19 scope, CEA 1.6
19.11.18 scope
20.08.19 CAT, eco
13.09.19 scope, CEA 1.2
18.03.20 CAT, eco, scope, NED
29.11.20 CAT, NED
2023 NED

Caat55
Posts: 694
Joined: Sat Dec 23, 2017 6:01 pm

Re: Tumor gone, cea level of 1

Postby Caat55 » Sat Jan 20, 2018 2:43 pm

Claudia,
So much information to digest. I have PET Tuesday.
Take Care,
S
Do at 55 y.o. Female
Dx 9/26/17 RC Stage 3
Completed 33 rad. tx, xeolda 12/8/17
MRI and PET 1/18 sign. regression
Surgery 1/31/18 Ileostomy, clean margins, no lymph node involved
Port 3/1/2018
Oxaliplatin and Xeloda start 3/22/18
Last Oxaliplatin 7/5/18, 5 rounds
CT NED 9/2018
PET NED 12/18
Clear Colonoscopy 2/19, 5/20

User avatar
susie0915
Posts: 945
Joined: Wed Aug 02, 2017 8:17 am
Facebook Username: Susan DeGrazia Hostetter
Location: Michigan

Re: Tumor gone, cea level of 1

Postby susie0915 » Sat Jan 20, 2018 4:04 pm

I understand. After chemo/radiation which got pretty tough at the end, I wanted to be done. Especially after the surgeon said all that was left was scar tissue and my pet scan showed no cancer anywhere. He told me I may not need chemo after depending on pathology after surgery. I cried when my oncologist recommended it. I went ahead though. I had a blockage about 4 weeks after surgery and was in the hospital for 3 1/2 weeks having surgery again to remove scar tissue, and reverse my ileostomy. At that point I didn't want to do chemo at all, but I did. I did 6 rounds of xelox and made it through even though there were bad days. You can do this. It's awesome that you responded so well to chemo/radiation makes the odds of you being cured even higher.
58 yrs old Dx @ 55
5/15 DX T3N0MO
6/15 5 wks chemo/rad
7/15 sigmoidoscopy/only scar tissue left
8/15 PET scan NED
9/15 LAR
0/24 nodes
10/15 blockage. surgery,early ileo rev, c-diff inf :(
12/15 6 rds of xelox
5/16 CT lung scarring/inflammation
9/16 clear colonoscopy
4/17 C 4mm lung nod
10/17 pel/abd CT NED
11/17 CEA<.5
1/18 CT/Lung no change in 4mm nodule
5/18 CEA<.5, CT pel/abd/lung NED
11/18 CEA .6
5/19 CT NED, CEA <.5
10/19 Clear colonscopy
11/19 CEA <.5

Caat55
Posts: 694
Joined: Sat Dec 23, 2017 6:01 pm

Re: Tumor gone, cea level of 1

Postby Caat55 » Tue Jan 23, 2018 6:40 pm

PET scan today. Significant regression of hypermetabolic mass with low level activity and resolution of the hypermetabolic suspected lymph node. All good news. Eating all the fresh fruits and veggies I can before surgery next week. Its kind of like Marti Gras!
S
Do at 55 y.o. Female
Dx 9/26/17 RC Stage 3
Completed 33 rad. tx, xeolda 12/8/17
MRI and PET 1/18 sign. regression
Surgery 1/31/18 Ileostomy, clean margins, no lymph node involved
Port 3/1/2018
Oxaliplatin and Xeloda start 3/22/18
Last Oxaliplatin 7/5/18, 5 rounds
CT NED 9/2018
PET NED 12/18
Clear Colonoscopy 2/19, 5/20

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Robino1
Posts: 463
Joined: Fri Aug 11, 2017 12:09 pm
Facebook Username: Robin.lawthers
Location: Florida

Re: Tumor gone, cea level of 1

Postby Robino1 » Tue Jan 23, 2018 6:52 pm

Excellent news!!! :mrgreen:
At 54 2014 1st colonoscopy colon cancer detect
Colon resect margins clear. No chemo Stage II
2017
Distend abd, pain in intestines.
CT scan seeding & Ascites
Lap diag - cancer on the omentum
CEA 217; 219
FOLFOX started 6/17
CEA 202
8/29/17 CT melting of tumor.
Latest CT scan shows 2 new tumors and return of ascites.
CEA: (2017)9/30 -109; 10/12 -99.1; 11/4 -90.7; 11/30 -70.7; 12/14 -83.4; (2018)1/4 -73.3; 2/1-84.2; 89.2; 89.8; 88.5; 81.8: 93.5; 107; 119
BRAF V600e


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