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nossacrs
Regular
Joined: 24 Jan 2006
Posts: 20
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 Posted: Wed Feb 27, 2008 2:03 pm Post subject: tumour mark |
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hi, i was just wondering how accurate the tumour mark is.
in my case ive been fighting stage 4 colon cancer since feb 2004, done all ops, chemo treatments , radiation and now after doing another bout of chemo for 2 liver mets and 2 lung mets, the biggest met being 8,2 on my liver before chemo with a tumour mark of 42 and now the liver met is 8,5 with a tumour mark of 14, it dont make a lot of sense to me, im starting chemo again next week with a differnt mix, i just want to shrink them so i can have more options. |
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brainman
Site Admin
Joined: 13 Oct 2005
Posts: 3307
Location: Tennessee
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Darwin
Experienced user
Joined: 11 Feb 2008
Posts: 82
Location: Darwin Australia
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| Posted: Wed Feb 27, 2008 7:06 pm Post subject: Re: tumour mark |
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Hi Jim
How much do they fluctuate? John's markers have been increasing very slowly 35, 38, 35 for the past three chemo cycles even with Folfiri and Avastin. he was in hospital for a few hours due to a white cell drop and we are wondering if this could be the reason or is thios an indication that the chemo is starting to be less effective?
Thanks
dorothy
_________________
Ex husband's diagnosis was March 2006, stage IV bowel cancer with met to liver and lungs. Current chemo treatment folfiri + avastin +erbitux (cetuximab) every two weeks. |
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brainman
Site Admin
Joined: 13 Oct 2005
Posts: 3307
Location: Tennessee
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nossacrs
Regular
Joined: 24 Jan 2006
Posts: 20
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| Posted: Thu Feb 28, 2008 4:26 am Post subject: tumour marker |
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| i was talking about the cea reading |
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brainman
Site Admin
Joined: 13 Oct 2005
Posts: 3307
Location: Tennessee
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| Posted: Thu Feb 28, 2008 3:11 pm Post subject: Re: tumour mark |
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Normal CEA for non smokers is less than 2.5ng/ml and can fluctuate + or - .5ng/ml. But a lot of other things can cause abnormal CEA readings... including other cancers and even in some benign conditions including cirrhosis, inflammatory bowel disease, chronic lung disease, and pancreatitis. It is useful to follow colon cancer but is not specific enough to really say that an elevation in CEA means the colon cancer is back. Other tests are needed to determine if your colon cancer is growing back.
I hope this is helpful. Most of it is "general knowledge" type information. As always, you should talk about your concerns with your own medical team.
_________________
Jim
Site Administrator and long-term cancer survivor
1992 Astrocytoma grade 2, left motor strip
2005 Recurrence this time said to be an Oligodendoglioma grade 3, same location.
My Story Part 1: http://cancerforums.net/viewtopic.php?p=7350
My Story Part 2: http://cancerforums.net/viewtopic.php?t=8029
Blog http://jimhawkinsport.blogspot.com/ |
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