← Return to Stage 3b, FOLFOX 12 rounds, 3 negative signatera but turns positive

Discussion
Comment receiving replies
@myjiggers1

All this in was very enlightening. I don’t know about any of those tests except the CEA. I will comment specifically on that as to its predicting. I had Stage 3c right side colon cancer in summer of 23. I did not have any signs I had it and my CEA was completely normal. We found it due to other cancer I had in the uterus which was found during a hysterectomy to avoid a precancer turning into cancer. I was anemic and they wanted to know why. The Colonoscopy showed the bleeding mass and 8 of 43 nodes were infiltrated. I did folfox, after surgery and CEA numbers did not change. 8 months after treatment it was back in my vaginal cuff and pelvic nodes and left oblique. Still no signs in the blood. So all that is to say that with right side CRC which is more aggressive, especially in women, its more of when it will come back and we can’t depend on bloodwork to give us clues. I do wish I had known about those tests. My Dr did some testing to see what treatments outside the reg might be used. But those don’t sound familiar.

Jump to this post


Replies to "All this in was very enlightening. I don’t know about any of those tests except the..."

@myjmyjiggers1 - I’m so sorry to hear about your challenging journey with colon cancer, and I can only imagine how frustrating it must feel to discover that the CEA test didn’t predict your recurrence. CEA has been found to be not that sensitive in detecting some right side CRC. Your experience with Stage 3c right-sided colon cancer—and now facing it again in your vaginal cuff, pelvic nodes, and left oblique—shows just how unpredictable and tough this disease can be. It’s completely understandable to wish you’d known about other testing options, and I admire your strength in sharing this to help others. A relatively new line of testing, CTDNA is becoming more available and is very useful in detecting recurrence as well as following adjuvant therapy. Would you like more specific information which you could discuss with your doctor? Would you mind sharing your CEA numbers, when was your last surgery? Do you know if a tumor tissue sample was retained (as this is required for several types of CTDNA tests).