CEA jumped too high: COVID-19 or ...?

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Sevilla2023
Posts: 6
Joined: Mon Nov 12, 2018 8:32 am
Location: Russia

CEA jumped too high: COVID-19 or ...?

Postby Sevilla2023 » Thu Oct 14, 2021 3:30 pm

Hello everyone
This is first time I've started a topic but I'm following this forum since my mom diagnosis.

In September 2018 she was diagnosed with rectal cancer, the tumor was very big, it grew into vaginal wall and made a fistula. It was a complicated case but we found a great surgeon to remove everything. In November radical surgery was done and since then she is considered to be NED. Also the tumor was well-differentiated (G1) by results of both biopsy and surgery so I believe it explains why there were no distant mets while tumor was quite big. I hope(d) it's non aggressive. And also mom didn't have chemo after surgery because of a long recovery period after surgery.

Since then her CEA was always around 0.5-1 but it started to grow in the beginning of this year:
January - 2.1, March - 3.39, July - 11.59, and recent result in October is 95.51, which shocked me a bit. I mean, I expected that it would be growing but not SO much..
What is important, is July she had one shot of vaccine, in September she got infected with COVID-19 and also her knees arthrosis got worse around that time so much that almost all the time she is in pain
Also we made two more markers: CA 19-9 - 9.03 (0 - 37), CA 72-4 - 23.69 (0 - 6.9)
CA 72-4 seemed to be high also, not sure yet what it means

And yes, in April and July mom had 128-slice CT with contrast which was analyzed very thoroughly but our oncologist and nothing was found. That CT is expected to show even very little things like 1 mm but..

So while we are performing PET CT, colonoscopy and gastroscopy, I have following questions:
1. Anyone heard of CEA big jumps caused by COVID-19? I think I can't recall any cases of such a great difference between two measures (and I read a looot in this forum)
2. Does CA 19-9 and CA 72-4 shows anything specific when using for recurrence detection? I tried to find info about it but it didn't help me much... So maybe someone can share his/her experience?

Thank you all
Caregiver to mom 57 yo at DX Sept 2018 T4bN2aM0
Rectal cancer, low (1.4 cm), advanced, recto-vaginal fistula
G1, 4/18 lymph nodes, no mutations
3 Round of chemo, stopped due to fistula complications
Huge open surgery 29 Nov 2018, 2 month in hospital, perm stoma, no chemo after surgery
CEA 2019-2020 <1, Jan 21 - 2.1, Mar 21 - 3.39, Jul 21 - 11.59
CT all clean
Sept 2021 - COVID 19
Oct 2021 - CEA - 95.51, CA 19-9 - 9.03, CA 72-4 - 23.69
PET CT showed met in sacrum S2, S3, chemo to start

roadrunner
Posts: 460
Joined: Sun Jan 12, 2020 8:46 pm

Re: CEA jumped too high: COVID-19 or ...?

Postby roadrunner » Fri Oct 15, 2021 9:59 am

COVID-19 infections do cause elevated CEA. That said, the increases are generally relatively modest <15, and it looks like your mom’s CEA increased in July, before her COVID infection. I see no evidence that the vaccine increases CEA, at least not this significantly. So I doubt it’s COVID. As far as the general picture, I would ask others to weigh in. I’m a bit concerned by the trajectory and recent level, but CEA is not a marker for me, so my research on it has been limited.
7/19: RC: Staged IIIA, T2N1M0
approx 4.25 cm, low/mid rectum, mod. well diff.; lung micronodule
8/19-10/19 4 rds.FOLFOX neoadjuvant, 3 w/Oxiplatin (reduced 70-75%)
neoadjuvant chemorad 11/19
4 rounds FOLFOX July-August 2020
ncCR 10/20; biopsies neg
TAE 11/20, tumor cells removed
Chest CT 3/30/21 growth in 2 nodules (3 and 5mm)
VATS 12/8/21 sub-pleural met 7mm.
SBRT nodule 1/22
6/20/22 TAE rectal polyp benign)
NED from 3/22 - 3/23
4 cycles FOLFIRI
LUL VATS lobectomy for radio resistant met 7/7/23

Sevilla2023
Posts: 6
Joined: Mon Nov 12, 2018 8:32 am
Location: Russia

Re: CEA jumped too high: COVID-19 or ...?

Postby Sevilla2023 » Fri Oct 15, 2021 10:45 am

Hi roadrunner,
Thank you for answer. There's definitely something not related to COVID-19 which made CEA value to have been increasing since January of this year, but I'm more concerned about the last jump from 11 to 95, is it just a recurrence or COVID-19 infection also contributed to it.. seems a very high difference for me

Meanwhile, mom's gastroscopy showed nothing except gastritis (this procedure was prescribed in order to exclude stomach cancer because CA 72-4 rises might be caused by it)

So waiting for other results..
Caregiver to mom 57 yo at DX Sept 2018 T4bN2aM0
Rectal cancer, low (1.4 cm), advanced, recto-vaginal fistula
G1, 4/18 lymph nodes, no mutations
3 Round of chemo, stopped due to fistula complications
Huge open surgery 29 Nov 2018, 2 month in hospital, perm stoma, no chemo after surgery
CEA 2019-2020 <1, Jan 21 - 2.1, Mar 21 - 3.39, Jul 21 - 11.59
CT all clean
Sept 2021 - COVID 19
Oct 2021 - CEA - 95.51, CA 19-9 - 9.03, CA 72-4 - 23.69
PET CT showed met in sacrum S2, S3, chemo to start


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