1. < Pancreatic Cancer

Does a change in CA19-9 indicate change in tumor?

Posted by steveron @steveron, Aug 16 1:46am

is there a formula which converts % change in CA19-9 values to change in tumor dimensions?
For example: if the difference between two CA19-9 readings is a 20% increase, does that mean the tumor increased by 20% over the same time period?
is there anyway to determine the rate of change in tumor dimensions? in other words, did the tumor change happen linearly, exponentially or logarithmically?

math was a long time ago, so thanks for any explanations

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marienewland | @mnewland99 | Oct 24 8:44pm
In reply to @56pan "Had the laparoscopy yesterday and looks like good news. No evidence of any cancer except the..." + (show)
@56pan

Had the laparoscopy yesterday and looks like good news. No evidence of any cancer except the one tumor on the liver, about 6 cm. The CT scan done in Sept. of last year showed a 7.3 cm tumor on the pancreas, several lesions on the omentum and 3 lesions on the liver. All not there when he did the laparoscopy yesterday except the liver tumor and he took several tissue samples from it for analysis. My oncologist and the surgeon are calling this thing an "escape tumor". One that somehow becomes resistant to chemo. So, from what I understand, the plan is to use radiation to burn off the liver tumor, put me on some kind of anticancer maint. drug and do scans periodically. And I'm going to see if the VA will pay for MRI's instead of CT's. Little concerned about radiation exposure from 14 CT scans I've had since this journey started. And I'm attributing my results yesterday to some divine intervention also.

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Miraculous news! I got 3 sessions of the SBRT radiation on my 0.9 cm liver lesion and it was fine, almost no side effects except for slight nausea and tiredness, but I was still doing chemo so who knows which treatment was giving those side effects. Love these success stories!

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56pan | @56pan | Oct 25 1:50am

Appt. on Dec. 5 with oncologist and I'll pass on here whatever his plans are. Thanks for the input ma'am.

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marienewland | @mnewland99 | Oct 25 7:38am
In reply to @mayoconnectuser1 "Lots of material out there on this topic. Here’s a summary that is straightforward and discusses..." + (show)
@mayoconnectuser1

Lots of material out there on this topic.

Here’s a summary that is straightforward and discusses effectively.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31943576/

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Thank you for this information! When my PC metastasized, my suddenly within normal limits tumor marker CA19-9 was rising but my CT showed no new growth. Drs insisted I was just panicking as they had told me just 3 months before I was cancer free ( so why didn’t I listen to them?). After reading comment from @markymarkfl and how he had kind of been in a similar until he got an MRI, I asked my dr if I could get an MRI and that’s when my 2 small liver lesions were found! And thus the next step was endoscopy with biopsy and so on. My question is do drs not know this information themselves?? They deal with a lot of patients; the usual progression after tumor (and maybe artery involvement and/or the abdominal peritoneum) is the liver. YOU may have to ask for that MRI and don’t delay is my humble advice.

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betsteff | @betsteff | Oct 25 8:05am

Great question and I would love to know if anyone can please respond! Thanks!

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gamaryanne | @gamaryanne | Oct 25 8:14am
In reply to @56pan "Very, very useful information and thanks for taking the time. I was declared stage 4 in..." + (show)
@56pan

Very, very useful information and thanks for taking the time. I was declared stage 4 in Sept of last year and was told I had likely less than a year to live. 7.3 cm. tumor on my pancreas, several lesions on my omentum and 3 lesions on my liver which were all proven to be PACC with biopsies from a laparoscopic procedure. After 12 cycles of Folfirinox ending in early Apr. of this year, the only thing visible on the CT scans since Apr. is one remaining tumor on my liver. Which is growing and now 6.3 cm. My oncologist is having the same surgeon that did the laparoscopy last year to do another one this coming Wed. The oncologist's plan is if there's evidence of problems on the peritoneum/omentum, I'd likely go back on the Folfirinox. If there's no evidence, then he plans to have the liver tumor burnt off with radiation, microwaves or radioactive beads. And I guess I'd be on some maintenance cancer preventive drug the rest of my life. Probably more than anyone here wanted to know, but thought some of it might be of use. This is one nasty, hateful disease.

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This is very very good news that the folfurinox worked so well for you. I am a similar case. In my situation, I had the radioactive beads then surgery. I’m now on a clinical trial and doing well! For next steps, be sure to get several opinions from top docs. Congrats! And keep fighting!

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56pan | @56pan | Oct 25 8:23am

Thank you,ma'am. I'll find out which method they'll be using to attack the tumor on Dec. 5th.

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altc321 | @altc321 | Oct 25 12:25pm
In reply to @tomrennie "Getting to maintenance can be a good thing. I have been there for over a year...." + (show)
@tomrennie

Getting to maintenance can be a good thing. I have been there for over a year. I started off with a pnet that spread to my liver and a few other places. I didn't have options other than chemo CAPTEM. It saved my life. I now am on just capecitabine for maintenance.

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Very interesting…. can you share what form of capecitabine (pill, dose and frequency, etc) you’re using. This may be something I would like to talk to my oncologist about when I get to the maintenance stage.
Many thanks and the best!

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1 reply
hakanb | @hakanb | Oct 25 1:29pm
In reply to @tomrennie "Getting to maintenance can be a good thing. I have been there for over a year...." + (show)
@tomrennie

Getting to maintenance can be a good thing. I have been there for over a year. I started off with a pnet that spread to my liver and a few other places. I didn't have options other than chemo CAPTEM. It saved my life. I now am on just capecitabine for maintenance.

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I am in the same situation, after 12 chemotherapies there is only a small piece left in the liver. Now 14 days, capacitabim, 1 week rest, 3 months like this, then I will have an MRI.

Translate deepl

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Turkey | @tomrennie | Nov 11 10:01am
In reply to @altc321 "Very interesting…. can you share what form of capecitabine (pill, dose and frequency, etc) you’re using...." + (show)
@altc321

Very interesting…. can you share what form of capecitabine (pill, dose and frequency, etc) you’re using. This may be something I would like to talk to my oncologist about when I get to the maintenance stage.
Many thanks and the best!

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I take the capecitabine pill. Currently, I take two 500mg pills in the morning and two in the evening. I am on it for 2 weeks then off it 2 weeks.

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1 reply
angeleji2 | @angeleji2 | 6 days ago
In reply to @tomrennie "I take the capecitabine pill. Currently, I take two 500mg pills in the morning and two..." + (show)
@tomrennie

I take the capecitabine pill. Currently, I take two 500mg pills in the morning and two in the evening. I am on it for 2 weeks then off it 2 weeks.

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I had my whipple 13 days ago and as soon as I recover, I will be receiving Gemcitabine and Capcitabine for 3 month to powerwash the micro cancer cells. How is the capcitabine working for you, side effects wise and how long are you on it for?

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