The Colon Club

Hi all,

I hope everyone had a good holiday…

My mom just had her 6 month scans today at Mayo and everything looked great, but we are now noticing a pattern of slowly rising CEA—2.3, 2.4, 3, 3.1 and now 3.4. Should we be concerned about this pattern? She will be 3 years cancer free this March.

What is the time period between tests?

Increases in CEA is always concerning, but not always a problem. Mine bounces around between 2.5 - 4.0. My onc doesn't seem all that concerned about small increases. Hopefully the next one will be down to sooth your fears.

Nor Cal wrote:What is the time period between tests?

Increases in CEA is always concerning, but not always a problem. Mine bounces around between 2.5 - 4.0. My onc doesn't seem all that concerned about small increases. Hopefully the next one will be down to sooth your fears.

Thanks for your response. This has been over a period of 18 months. (2.3 18 months ago and draws every 3 months with the exception of this last one which was a 6 month interval, the last of which is now 3.4.)

I have a call into her oncologist to discuss if they find this to be a true “rising trend” that’s alarming or not. I would love to see a drop just to break the streak.

Punky44 wrote:

Nor Cal wrote:What is the time period between tests?

Increases in CEA is always concerning, but not always a problem. Mine bounces around between 2.5 - 4.0. My onc doesn't seem all that concerned about small increases. Hopefully the next one will be down to sooth your fears.

Thanks for your response. This has been over a period of 18 months. (2.3 18 months ago and draws every 3 months with the exception of this last one which was a 6 month interval, the last of which is now 3.4.)

I have a call into her oncologist to discuss if they find this to be a true “rising trend” that’s alarming or not. I would love to see a drop just to break the streak.

A 50% increase over 18 months (while peaking just above normal) doesn't seem like a huge deal to me, though that is just based on my own CEA trends. On my most recent scan I went from 2.5 - 4 over a six-week period (testing every 2 weeks) right before the scan and there was nothing visible, and now we're back down to 2.8. I do understand looking at blood tests and cursing every time the number goes up, so I feel your concern. Let us know what the onc says.

Just wanted to give an update!

CEA came back down to 3 at today’s appt! The rising streak has been broken! Very happy for my mom tonight!

That's wonderful news!

Good to hear that!

Awesome news!