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CA 19-9, sensitivity and responsiveness to treatment
Pancreatic Cancer | Last Active: May 28 5:18pm | Replies (17)Comment receiving replies
I'm in a similar boat; will have more data (another CA19-9 test) in a week. My onc thinks the CA19 increase (from 53 to 131) is due more to drug resistance than my one missed cycle and two previous chemos with reduced Abraxane.
My first CA19 reading after resuming treatment was 129 -- down only 2 "relatively insignificant" points from before, but a definite break in the increasing trend.
My scans 2 weeks ago didn't show any new tumors, but all the ones we're watching got a little bigger, so the CA19-9 increase correlated totally with that. 🙁
@ncteacher , I know you're officially inoperable, but have the docs ever collected any biopsy tissue you could send in for the various genetic tests? PanCan.org will pay for the Tempus testing. If you could even get a small sample, they could also build the Signatera test for you. I have two tumors close to my belly button, and docs have indicated they could take tissue from there percutaneously (18 ga core needle biopsy?) under local anesthesia.
As far as Signatera itself goes... mine is still at 0.00 (as of 2 weeks ago) -- not detecting any ctDNA. At low/senescent tumor levels, for solid tumors, Signatera seems (to me) less sensitive/indicative than CA19-9.
Replies to "I'm in a similar boat; will have more data (another CA19-9 test) in a week. My..."
When the Signatera test became a part of my testing I was advised by several sources that the positive readings are most always spot on.
However, i was also told it does produce false negatives with Pcan. I was told this in case I wanted to opt out of it-I did not. I want all the data available to manage this bear!
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I'll toss that testing question onto my list for my MD. We did do genetic testing, which identified the ATM mutation. Beyond that, I haven't had anything else. I'd be willing to pursue that if it provides the info we need to better tailor chemo and/or it suggests other options that might be open. I sent a message to my doc, but haven't heard back yet. I doubt there's anything we can do right now--just be ready to discuss at my next appt.