When my husband was first diagnosed a year ago (no primary, spinal met only) his CEA level was 10, which we were told isn't that high for a stage 4 CRC. He underwent radiation then adjuvant chemo (6 cycles of Xelox) which did not work, as a January PET scan revealed a new tumor in his left adrenal gland. At his first chemo two weeks ago (folfiri + Avastin), his CEA was 58, yikes! For the second cycle last Friday, his oncologist warned us that it may take a while for his level to drop, and that it could even keep rising for a while. So we were all pleasantly surprised to learn that after only one chemo, it had dropped to 17! I'm not sure how common that is, from what I read every case is different, for some people it drops fast at first then slower, for others it's a regular decline... Regardless, it's not often that we get good surprises like this with this %^&$&^%disease! If the trend continues, he may not get all 12 cycles, getting what remains of the tumor taken out by radiation or arthroscopic surgery
Wife of Dx 04/18 (51 yo). MSS, KRAS G12A, no primary
Tumors: L4 04/18; left adrenal gland & small lung nodules 03/19
rectum 02/22 (pT3 pN0 stage 2A); L3 09/22
Surgeries: intestinal resect. 05/18 (no cancer - Crohn's); adrenalectomy 02/20
L3-L4-L5 fusion and corpectomy 05/20; LAR 04/22; ileo reversal 09/22
L2-L3 fusion and corpectomy 09/22
Treatments: EBRT 04/18; SBRT 02/19; Failed adjuvant Xelox ; Folfiri/Avastin 03/19 - 01/20
adjuvant chemorad (Xeloda) 06/22; SBRT 11/22; Xeloda/Avastin since 01/24