High alkaline phosphatase?

[crikklekay]

It is hard to believe that it has been a little over a month since my DH last Folfox infusion and he was given a thumbs up and clear CT Scan. The only thing the doctor was concerned about was his alkaline phosphatase levels which had risen during treatment, but it looked like they were coming down. If they start going back up she might want to do a PET scan to make sure nothing is going on in the liver. We've been so busy these last few weeks getting part of our life back and prepping for surgery I didn't really think about it, but he had blood work this week and the number is up from 131 to 140. We're waiting to see if the Oncologist wants to do any imaging before his stoma reversal surgery next week, so I thought I would post the question here- has anyone else struggled with high alkaline phosphatase numbers post chemo? Did they eventually go down? His CEA is still trending down but I'm not sure if that's a good marker for him since it never got over 4.7.

[hiker]

My alk phos has been all over the place. From a low of 53 the day I went in for liver resection surgery to a high of 234 after my second HAI pump chemo treatment and everywhere in between. I haven't been on chemo since 02/28 of this year and my last lab work on 08/29 showed 161. Not sure what's causing it - could be the neulasta shots I take for low WBC. I've read that it can affect alk phos.

hiker

[margiej]

Before my final chemo treatment my alk phos was 134. A month after chemo it was still high at 122. My doctor felt it was just from the chemo. Two months later it was down to 84 and six months after that was 73. Hope that is helpful and will be your experience too.
Margie

[Tupelo honey]

Same here. Mine trended up over the last couple of treatments and beyond, up to a high in the 190's a couple months after chemo was over. It came down slowly over the next few months.

[retiredteacher]

Yes - mine bumped up to the 180's. I believe it is not uncommon.

[crikklekay]

Oh good! We were told it was normal for it to go up during treatment but that it should "go down after chemo ends" but I was never given a time window to expect. So when I saw it went up my brain was going "Wait, isn't that supposed to be a smaller number??". The oncologist said since it wasn't a large increase and his other numbers are good that she's happy with everything, it should hopefully be a little lower again next month. On to reversal surgery next week! I'm a bundle of nerves, but my DH can't wait to be reconnected. His time with an ostomy has been very rough.