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Ca25-29 and CA 15-3: One marker going up and the other down?

Posted by shireen71 @shireen71, Mar 29, 2024

I was diagnosed with breast cancer ER positive her two negative. I was cancer free for four years and then I developed cancer in my liver MBC I am currently on Anastrozole and Virginio treatment initially my tumor marker CA 25–29 was 230 after my first treatment the markers went down to 48 and now the second month of treatment. My markers went up to 113 however, my CA 15 three markers was 118 before treatment and first month of treatment it went down to 98 second month treatment it went down to 60 my question is what does it mean when one marker goes goes down and the other one goes up after the second month of treatment

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mchler73 | @mchler73 | May 7, 2024

@einnoc
I recently had a chest CT scan with contrast and I remember it burning when they injected the it but other than that, I don’t remember any side effects. Not sure if it was Omniqaque though.
Now, when I had my Sentinel Node Biopsy surgery, whatever they injected to find my sentinel nodes made me pee bright blue for about 3 or 4 days!!

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shireen71 | @shireen71 | May 7, 2024
In reply to @colleenyoung "Hi @shireen71, I'm sorry to hear about your disappointing scan after 3 months on Verzenio and..." + (show)
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Hi @shireen71, I'm sorry to hear about your disappointing scan after 3 months on Verzenio and anastrozole. I moved your post to your original discussion so that members can see a bit more of your diagnosis and journey.

Have you had a chance to speak with your oncologist in the meantime to get a better understanding of the different indicators that the tumor markers vs the scan seem to be saying? What did you learn? Has your treatment plan changed?

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I took a PET scan going this week to see oncologist keep you posted

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butterfly3 | @butterfly3 | Oct 3 3:53pm
In reply to @auntieoakley "Hello @shireen71 and welcome to Mayo connect. These numbers cause so much distress, I am sorry..." + (show)
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Hello @shireen71 and welcome to Mayo connect. These numbers cause so much distress, I am sorry for that. They do tend to fluctuate, my doctor does not even test them regularly anymore. He says they aren’t really reliable enough to be helpful.
There is another conversation here on connect about this topic, from about a year ago. Here is a link,
https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/ca-15-3-cancer-tumor-marker/
Being MBC is a hard label to come to terms with, I hope you don’t focus too much on the numbers. They can really make me crazy when I do that.
How are you doing now? Have you visited any of the other discussions yet?

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@auntieoakley I've had 3 treatments of enhurtu.. my ca15-3 has gone up..is this normal? Just did scans . See Dr Tues.. started with breast stage 3 in 2015, spread to bones in 2023 and now it's in my bone marrow in 2025.. should I be worried? Or do the numbers fluctuate with each treatment?

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Chris, Volunteer Mentor | @auntieoakley | Oct 4 9:49am
In reply to @butterfly3 "@auntieoakley I've had 3 treatments of enhurtu.. my ca15-3 has gone up..is this normal? Just did..." + (show)
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@auntieoakley I've had 3 treatments of enhurtu.. my ca15-3 has gone up..is this normal? Just did scans . See Dr Tues.. started with breast stage 3 in 2015, spread to bones in 2023 and now it's in my bone marrow in 2025.. should I be worried? Or do the numbers fluctuate with each treatment?

Jump to this post

@butterfly3 I wish I could tell you directly, I can really only tell you what happened with me. The broad trends with cancer markers did show the trends in my cancer, Fluctuations in the numbers were pretty normal and created so much anxiety in me, that my doctor finally quit telling me. Now we only talk about confirmation tests.
Living with advanced cancer is a difficult thing. I try to remember to live my best today and let tomorrow be for tomorrow.
I know you are seeing your doctor on Tuesday, will you come back and let me know how you are feeling? 💕

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butterfly3 | @butterfly3 | Oct 4 10:22am
In reply to @auntieoakley "@butterfly3 I wish I could tell you directly, I can really only tell you what happened..." + (show)
Profile picture for Chris, Volunteer Mentor @auntieoakley

@butterfly3 I wish I could tell you directly, I can really only tell you what happened with me. The broad trends with cancer markers did show the trends in my cancer, Fluctuations in the numbers were pretty normal and created so much anxiety in me, that my doctor finally quit telling me. Now we only talk about confirmation tests.
Living with advanced cancer is a difficult thing. I try to remember to live my best today and let tomorrow be for tomorrow.
I know you are seeing your doctor on Tuesday, will you come back and let me know how you are feeling? 💕

Jump to this post

@auntieoakley yes I will!

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briarrose | @briarrose | Oct 5 7:13am

shireen71, it has been awhile since your last post, over a year.
A beyond difficult situation you have experience. How are you now?
I hope and pray you are taking each day as it comes - trying to live your best life, completely in peace.

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Mentor
Miriam, Volunteer Mentor | @mir123 | Oct 5 10:10am

My experience with CA25-29 has been mixed. I get tested every 3-6 months. In March, the numbers went up for the third time in a row. However, they were still within the normal range. My oncologist, however, stated with conviction that this meant the cancer had metastasized. A PET scan showed no cancer. Now the markers have gone down again. I gather that many oncologists don't use the test as it can be erratic. However, mine does. I'm learning to not take the results too seriously but to go by scans and how I feel. I'm three years out from diagnosis of a rare neuroendocrine treat tumor--fast growing at Grade 3. So far so good. Hope this helps.

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