Rectal cancer chemo: Can anyone explain CEA and CA 19-9 values?

Posted by hh @hildaharb, Jul 25 1:56am

I was operated by LAR for a stage 3 rectosigmoid tumor. I am on chemo and targeted therapy. After 6 cycles of biweekly chemo, my CEA has declined compared to value before surgery, but the ca 19-9 has increased to higher values than before surgery. I have an appointment with my oncologist next week but i am worried since I am on treatment and my surgery 4 months ago supposedly cleared the disease which was verified with PET scan before i started my chemo. Can anyone clarify this test result for me please?

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Colleen Young, Connect Director | @colleenyoung | 2 hours ago

@hildaharb, I can understand that you are worried about the tumor marker changes after surgery and chemotherapy for rectal cancer. It is not uncommon for tumor markers to rise due to inflammation or other causes. Rising and decresing tumor markers are confounding. For this reason CEA and CA 19-9 levels alone are not typically used as absolute evidence of the presence or the absence of malignant disease. These tests are used in conjunction with information from the clinical evaluation of the patient and other diagnostic procedures.

You've likely seen this already, but here's further info about Cancer Antigen 19-9 (CA 19-9) https://labtestsonline.org/tests/cancer-antigen-19-9 and Carcinoembryonic Antigen (CEA)https://www.testing.com/tests/carcinoembryonic-antigen-cea/

I'm also tagging @clayc84, @gbm @myjiggers1 @premi @nycmusic and others to join the discussion.

@hildaharb, how did your appointment with the oncologist go? What did you find out?

nycmusic | @nycmusic | 1 hour ago

My CEA is independent, mind of its own ! I’ve been NED for over 18 months, clean CTs and sonograms—yet my CEA is 3-4. Go figure ! Docs not worried as all other blood tests are fine.

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