Rapidly rising CEA level...

[missv34]

My dad had his CEA test mid-June before his final round of chemo and it was just above 200. When he got retested a couple weeks after his final round of chemo around July 7 it had risen to about 250. He was just tested again around mid-August and it is already back up to almost 800. It was just above 900 when he first began chemo in January. The doctor is telling him not to look at the CEA level, that his liver function test came back ok and that they would re-start his chemo mid-October. I am so worried that if it has already risen so much that it isn't a good idea to wait so long to re-start on the chemo? Why aren't they doing another scan to see what is going on or why it is rising again so rapidly. My mum and I are so worried about my dad - but then my dad worries about us, which we don't want him to do, we want him to focus on himself... we are terrified of losing him. I can't stop myself from just bursting into tears throughout the day. They are thinking about putting him on CPT-11 and Avastin. Has anyone done this combination with any success?

Any advice would be truly appreciated.

[Terry]

I'm on (or was until last treatment) oxi, xeloda and avastin and my cancer has shrunk to a point that the PET scan can't pick it up. CEA levels aren't down to normal yet but are close. I think someone on here said that sometimes after chemo CEA will rise and then go down, hopefully they will post.

Good luck to your dad and all of you and God Bless you!
Terry

[Lee]

My CEA levels went up while I was on chemo, and it took awhile for it to come down (actually it doubled while on chemo). Sometimes other things can effect CEA numbers. I can't remember all items, but I do remember certain medicines effecting it. Did your Dad have some type of procedure recently? If it's been awhile, doing a scan may not be a bad idea. If it were me, I would feel better with a scan or PET/C-scan.

Hope all is O.K.

Lee

[missv34]

My dad has colon cancer with mets to his liver only. At least that was the continued prognosis was when they did his scan before his last session of chemo. The scan showed there was some shrinkage in the mets to his liver but that he was still not a candidate for resection since the mets still covered both lobes of the liver.

My dad was on Oxilaplatin, Xeloda and Avastin from January to the end of June this year. He is also on Warfarin for a DVT that developed shortly after his first round of chemo - they aren't sure if it was as a result of the chemo and cancer or from the surgery he had at the end of November last year when they removed the cancer from his colon. As soon as he eats anything too green his blood thickens rapidly. He didn't realize that green tea could affect the Warfarin so much and had been drinking it for the last few weeks because he read it was supposed to be good for fighting cancer - when he went to the doctor they told him to come off of it right away since his blood had thickened significantly. I'm really hoping the new round of chemo he is to begin in October works and his CEA level will come back down again. I just feel bad for him because we saw how hard the first 6 months of chemo were on him. It is so hard to see someone you love so much go through everything they do when fighting cancer or to even begin to understand how hard it is for them and the emotions they must be feeling. I've been told my dad's cancer is genetic since my grandfather had it too - both were diagnosed at stage iv so I'm not sure how old they would've been when the cancer began. I hope I'm as strong as my dad and alot of you on this blog when my time comes to deal with it.

Terry and Lee I am soooo happy to see you are both NED now. That is wonderful news!! Wishing both you and your families good health and happiness always.