Slowly rising CEA..

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Getwell
Posts: 3
Joined: Tue Dec 04, 2018 11:30 pm

Slowly rising CEA..

Postby Getwell » Wed Mar 27, 2019 7:25 pm

This is my first post but I have been getting wonderful advice from reading posts here for 5 months now. Thank you!
My husband (39 years old) was diagnosed with stage 3c colon cancer in oct, had emergency surgery to remove tumor, has had 2 clean scans & currently on treatment #11 of 12 chemo (oxaliplatin) treatments. Everything seems to be going good except his slowly creeping CEA level... There was never a baseline taken before surgery, but his levels over the past few months have been 4.2, 4.6, 4.2,4.6 and now 5.1 Any of you experience anything like this? Thanks for reading & for any advice you can send our way!

Dionca
Posts: 48
Joined: Sat Dec 02, 2017 2:04 am

Re: Slowly rising CEA..

Postby Dionca » Wed Mar 27, 2019 11:37 pm

If you look at my signature, you will see that my CEA rose during chemo. When I was first diagnosed my CEA was 8.6 and went down to 1.2 after surgery. It then rose during chemo and levelled off after treatment was over.

My oncologist said he doesn't usually test CEA during chemo, because inflammation can cause it to rise. The only reason I was tested was because halfway between my treatment, an unrelated scan showed something on my liver (which was subsequently determined to be benign).

Your husband is almost at the end of his treatment, so hopefully his will start going down.
stage 3b T3 N1b MX 2/27 nodes (surgery 4/2015)
moderately differentiated
PNI - positive
LVI - positive
Folfox 12 sessions (w/out oxi for 11 & 12)
Neulasta with 3-12 due to low WBC count
CEA at diagnosis 8.6
CEA after surgery 1.2
CEA during chemo 4.6 / 3.3 / 2.3
CEA after chemo 1.5 / 1.2 / 1.2 /1.2 /1.2 / 1.4 / 1.1 / 1.2 / 1.9 / 1.3 / 1.6 /1.4 /1.5
neuropathy
recurrence in left lung (surgery May 2020)

stu
Posts: 1613
Joined: Sat Aug 17, 2013 5:46 pm

Re: Slowly rising CEA..

Postby stu » Thu Mar 28, 2019 2:29 am

Hi ,
My mum’s always rises on chemo despite her tumours shrinking right off the scans !

It will hopefully drop after treatment finishes .

Stu
supporter to my mum who lives a great life despite a difficult diagnosis
stage4 2009 significant spread to liver
2010 colon /liver resection
chemo following recurrence
73% of liver removed
enjoying life treatment free
2016 lung resection
Oct 2017 nice clear scan . Two lung nodules disappeared
Oct 2018. Another clear scan .

Getwell
Posts: 3
Joined: Tue Dec 04, 2018 11:30 pm

Re: Slowly rising CEA..

Postby Getwell » Thu Mar 28, 2019 12:21 pm

Thank you both for your replies. Hopefully that is his case as well!

heiders33
Posts: 363
Joined: Sat Nov 04, 2017 11:08 am

Re: Slowly rising CEA..

Postby heiders33 » Fri Mar 29, 2019 6:07 am

My CEA was at 1.7 after my liver resection and is now at 4.7 after almost six months of chemo. Hoping to see it go down after my last treatment on April 10. It was 5.1 at diagnosis so I’m not even sure it’s a good indicator. It’s good to read posts like this!
40 year-old female
May 2017: Dx rectal cancer T3N2M0
MSS, KRAS G12D
6/17: 28 days chemorad
9/17: LAR/loop ileostomy, CAPOX six rounds
3/18: reversal
9/18: liver met, resection/HAI pump, 11 rounds 5FU, 1 round FUDR
11/19 - local recurrence, brachytherapy, 3 weeks targeted radiation
12/21 - end colostomy

kandj
Posts: 314
Joined: Sun Sep 27, 2015 11:29 am

Re: Slowly rising CEA..

Postby kandj » Tue Apr 02, 2019 5:38 pm

My DH's CEA was less then .5 at diagnosis. Peaked to 10.5 during treatment. His goes up during treatment for some reason. I assume it is inflammation related.
wife to DH, dx 8/15 stage IV @36, 12+ liver Mets
HAI placed 12/15
Liver resect 5/19/2016 15-20 mets (surgeon lost count)
Liver Recurrence 7/2017-radiation
Lung met 10/18 VATS
lung/adrenal gland recurrence 11/19
Adrenal ablation 2/20 VATS 3/20
Radiation: 9/20 adrenal gland, 2/21 pancreatic node
9/2021 liver, 4/22 esophageal node
7/2023 proton therapy: liver
140+ rounds of chemo and counting
Chest nodes, lung nodules, and esophageal nodes currently.


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