CA 19-9 and pancreatic cancer: What do the numbers mean?

He was on all of this. Not at the same time. Over the course of 3.5 years.
Gemcitabine (Gemzar)
5-fluorouracil (5-FU) or Capecitabine (Xeloda) (an oral 5FU drug)
Irinotecan (Camptosar) or Liposomal Irinotecan (Onivyde)
Platinum agents : Cisplatin and Oxaliplatin (Eloxatin)
Taxanes: Paclitaxel (Taxol), Docetaxel (Taxotere), and Albumin-bound paclitaxel (Abraxane)

He was on all of this. Not at the same time.
Gemcitabine (Gemzar)
5-fluorouracil (5-FU)
Irinotecan (Camptosar) or Liposomal Irinotecan (Onivyde)
Oxaliplatin (Eloxatin)
Docetaxel (Taxotere), and Albumin-bound paclitaxel (Abraxane)

What chemo was he on?

I found that your situation is interesting. My situation is similar but different. I have stable reoccurrence tumor in pancreas and mets to the lungs as well that are small with small growth. I had these larger lung mets ablated successfully but now 20 or so small ones. So maybe if your mets nodules grow bigger you can have them ablated. Good luck!

No surgery (yet). Told I tolerated chemo (3 different drugs) amazingly well. Most recent, 5 of 6, not so much.
CT and PET moved up. 6 weeks of 5 days a week radiation. After that, surgeon consult.

The decline of your CA 19-9 numbers sound encouraging, @jk2.

Did you have surgery as well as chemo? How are you doing on the chemo? Managing side effects okay?

Tail pancreatic cancer.
I started with a CA 19-9 of 690 and stage 3. One month later, it was 505, the next 190 and the last, two weeks later after my 5th of 6 chemo (alternate weeks ), 93.

It is my understanding that this tumor marker shows ALL tumors, so part of the number may even be non cancerous tumors.

I'm now being scheduled for a CT scan, and another test for 6 weeks of 5 days a week radiation.

When the CT comes back, I'm hopeful that this scourge of my bodies own making, will show totally or almost totally dead, as I demanded in my thoughts and dreams.

My doctor, her PAs, all the staff and the facilities at Jupiter Medical Center's Anderson Cancer Center, are the best I could hope for.

@fatherray, I bet many can related to the feeling of your "brain as expanding and retracting" as you tried to comprehend the words of the doctor telling you that you had cancer.

When were you diagnosed with cancer? Was it pancreatic cancer?

No problem with Humana PPO. In fact over 7 years, whipple, all types of chemo, sbrt radiation, and Creon, have never been turned down by Humana for anything. They have been great

My wife's insurance is covering it. Commercial insurance through my former employer which actually is self-insured administered by UHC. The infusion center was concerned about coverage and applied for a subsidy from the manufacturer, Ipsen. They do have a subsidy program but we didn't need it.