CEA and CA 19-9

[Paradise2020]

My DH (62) was diagnosed with stage IV Colon Cancer ( in liver and lung ) and began chemo treatment on June 2, 2020 with 5fu and oxi, avastin, fluorouracil, . Please forgive me because i don't know how to add the information that you all have on the bottom of your responses.

When he started his CEA was 5.7 and now after his 5th of 6th treatments it is a 3.1. His CA 19-9 was 50 when he started and is now 27. He will be getting a CT scan after his 6th treatment of chemo and then we meet the doctor and he'll tell us what the next step is. More chemo? Whatever? Not sure what to expect.

It looks like these numbers are good and his treatment is working? Does this mean that a lot of the cancer has gone away? During and after his 5th treatment last week he's had no side effects at all and feels great. We're so happy and amazed. After earlier treatments he's experienced stomach pain and throwing up.

Thanks for listening and appreciate any thoughts you all may have.

[claudine]

Welcome to the forum, Paradise2020. I hope you will find here answers to your questions and support while you and your husband are going through these difficult times.
You can edit your signature by going to the user control pannel (drop-down from your name in the upper right corner), the clicking the "Profile" tab and going to "Edit signature". It is a great way to provide information.

I am not sure what the next step in your husband;s treatment will be - did his oncologist discuss with him what the end goal is, such as shrinking/eliminating tumors enough to make surgery an option for whatever remains? What about his primary tumor?
Drops in CEA and CA 19-9 are indeed a good sign, as decreasing values are usually matched with a corresponding shrinking of tumors. But whether the cancer has "gone away" or not can only be ascertained by a scan of the actual tumors. Sometimes chemo will kill tumors and even though there's still something there, it's dead tumor material.

I'm glad he's tolerating the chemo regimen so well! Good luck and keep us posted of what you find out regarding tumors and further treatment.

[beach sunrise]

Hi, I think it is a good sign that markers are coming down. Happy he feels good also so far.
And yes, following Claudine's advice and steps on creating a signature will definitely help as others can see the info and offer discussions/info/advice.

[rp1954]

...CA 19-9 was 50 when he started and is now 27...
...It looks like these numbers are good and his treatment is working? Does this mean that a lot of the cancer has gone away?

It could be an important start - markers going down vs up is a big deal, but still lots to go.

In the Japanese papers I read, the CA199 response would still be considered incomplete or not adequate. That initial CA199 is above the stage 4 median but below the average of published CA199 series for CRC that I found.

Perhaps with a series of several assertive steps you can turn this into a durable remission. With stage 4, surgery is often resisted because std of care historically has viewed metastatic spread to make surgery(s) futile. Certain important types of mCRC-stage 4 cases, mostly single sites, have become considered resectable over the last 10 years. More sites involves more steps by more skilled help, with fewer volunteers at fewer hospitals. However, mCRC members here have successfully found extra answers to their situations.

Beyond that, we found we could intelligently "cheat", get better blood data and better chemistry longer, change the odds (and the biology), either turn "no" into "yes" or find better help, get successful surgery after multiple rejections, then keep improving the data and the chemistry until you can kill off (or transform) enough stem cells and (micro)mets for a durable remission.

[Paradise2020]

Many thanks to everyone for all your thoughts and advice. It's really appreciated. I'm looking forward to speaking to the doctor after DH's ct scan. And you can be sure, I'm gonna ask lots of questions and not necessarily take no for an answer! Ex surgery, hai pump.... Learned that from this forum.

[beach sunrise]

Hi Paradise 2020, just to share a little about my visits with drs. All my questions and view on treatment related to markers, I also had science papers to show them. Most times in the beginning I was shrugged off with "What I thought from what I've read" until I learned a little more and had a folder with the papers in the order of my questions and treatment forward views as back up. The last two times with two diff drs I finally turned NO's into YES's with continuing xeloda and adding celebrex and honestly I believe it was because I had the papers for proof (they still didn't want to read them but who cares, I had them and was ready to use them in battle of wills for what I thought I needed based on bloodwork panels and research). I still have a few things to accomplish for my benefit and I'm sure my onc expects it now.
I think it would be a very different outcome with me as of now if I didn't find this forum for info (mainly rp1954 and CRguy), advocate very smartly, confident while engaging and nice but firm with a smile.
Good luck to you all with next appt. Let us know how it turns out.