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Worried about rising CEA levels

Colorectal Cancer | Last Active: Aug 31 6:47am | Replies (91)
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@denise777

I was diagnosed with Invasive lobular carcinoma invasive lobular carcinoma( breast cancer) in June 2018. Since I have had a bilateral mastectomy and 28 radiation treatments. I have recently been watching my CEA levels which twice now has been just out of range. I had labs done July 2020 CEA level was 2.6 dr did a recheck on labs August 2020 CEA level was 2.2 and then just had them done again yesterday November 2020 and they are 2.7. Should I be concerned? From what I am reading my levels are .2 out of range. I suffer from very bad anxiety and am so nervous right now. 😞

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Replies to "I was diagnosed with Invasive lobular carcinoma invasive lobular carcinoma( breast cancer) in June 2018. Since..."
Colleen Young, Connect Director | @colleenyoung | Nov 10, 2020

Hi @denise777, welcome to Mayo Clinic Connect. I can understand that you're concerned about fluctuating CEA levels. As posted above, The CEA testing is notorious for false positives, meaning that the test results may show high levels when they are actually not. That's probably why your doctor ordered several tests.

Here's more info:
– High False-Positive Rate of Elevated CEA Seen in Patients With Resected Colorectal Cancer https://www.ascopost.com/issues/august-15-2014/high-false-positive-rate-of-elevated-cea-seen-in-patients-with-resected-colorectal-cancer/

I know it's really hard not to be anxious, but as they say "don't put the cart before the horse." The CEA levels are a simple test that may indicate the need for further testing to investigate IF there is a change. When will you be able to have an appointment to talk with your oncologist about next steps?

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