Help for my Dad

[Joesgal]

Last Dec 2017 my father -age 85 at the time was rushed to the hospital and within 12 hours had the majority of his colon removed. He was lucky - stage 2 - had a bag until last June and then surgery to reverse it .
One year later he has had a colonoscopy - his first and apparently told all A O K . He was told by oncologist last April that his cancer has a 5-10% chance of recurring and in his case no chemo no nothing . Today the
hospital called and said his CEA has increased to 3 or 3.3 ( he thinks this is what the nurse said) . He is now very concerned and thinks he may have the cancer recurring . I have told him calmly to call back the doctor and ask more questions.
From what I have read here slight elevations in CEA do not always mean Cancer reoccurring . Any insight would be helpful .Thank you kindly .

[Deb m]

Most likely, they will repeat his cea in about 6 weeks. If it is a re occurrence, it will usually continue to rise if his cea is a good marker for him. Some people who have colon cancer never have an elevated cea. What was his before surgery? If it was elevated some, did it go down after surgery? if so then you can say it's a good marker for him. most re occurances do not happen in the colon, they usually appear in the lungs or liver. If his cea continues to rise, and thats if, then a pet scan should be done.

My husband's cea rose from 3.0 to 5.7 on one occasion. A scan was done and nothing showed. His next cea about 6 weeks later was back down to 2.8 During his 5 years of surveillance his cea was all over the place, up and down. It was very nerve racking to say the least. He is 8 years out of surgery and has remained ned. My husband was also a stage II, but he did chemo because he had some high risk features.

My advise is to have it repeated in about 6 weeks. If its increased more, then have a scan done. You said its 3.0 or 3.3, which is really not that high. How does that compare to the previous one.?

Hope it turns out to be nothing. Hang in there.

Deb

[Joesgal]

Deb - this reported number was the day of a colonoscopy - meaning he had emptied and not eaten for 2 days so it is possible it might have gone up for that reason ?
He is waiting for his Surgeon to call back- apparently here in Montreal - our hospitals by law must send a letter when the Cea goes over 3.0 - his is 3.3 - poor man is anxious but I
have told him to wait until he gets a call ...you are correct - may be nothing - appreciate your reply

[Deb m]

I don't think whether you eat or not has any effect on CEA. Keep in mind that you can draw for a cea in the morning and it can be 3.0 and two hours later draw for another one it it can be 3.3 and yet two hours after that draw for one it it may be 2.9. They can fluctuate within hours with different blood samples just like a WBC or HGB and many other tests would. You wouldn't necessarily get the exact same number. His is such a small increase.

Hang in there,

Deb m