CA 27-29 numbers rising: Does anyone else have an issue like this?

Hi. I’m new to this site. I had lumpectomy 10 years ago and radiation. For the first 5 years my CA 25-27 tumor markers were all in normal range then they started going up to 50’s and 60’s. My oncologist was testing me on a regular basis and sent me in for PET scan during this time. Nothing showed up. A couple years later I was diagnosed with Rheumatoid Arthritis. One time I was having an RA flare up and my CA 25-27 number shot up to 105. Went down after flare up cleared. I now have my RA medicine working pretty well and flare ups only happen rarely. Now My tumor marker tests have been two in the normal range and the others 40. Have other people had a similar experience?

I'm just putting this in the mix. My 27.29 was high, but I believe it was due to lymphedema. My onc sent me to a surgeon who suggested breast massage. For me that worked. I will see what the numbers are at the end of January. Many doctors don't believe this is a good indicator of anything.

My oncologist doesn't do these blood markers at all. I am 9 years out and stopped letrozole at 5 years. I have no idea how I will know I am stage 4. How many of you have docs who do this testing?

I’m just entering year 3 ( 20 mos on AI) and your stats are very inspirational!

That said, it’s an unnerving lifelong worry! The docs say they go by symptoms… then scans… but who wants to WAIT for symptoms!!! As I’m still with an oncologist I do get MRI every year.

I am in the Signatera program and I find a negative result to be encouraging but there are false negatives there also.

I’m planning to explant; not comfortable with a foreign body in my body and I have had a good bit of itching for the year plus that I’ve had a silicone boob. Also new reports of squamous cell carcinoma ( very aggressive once established) with silicone.

Welcome, @cchappy22. I'm tagging fellow members @sheilaray @kstar077 @renunciate @kensiejames, who have also mentioned they are breast cancer survivors living with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). They may also have experience with wonky tumor marker results.

I also found these research paper that talk about tumor markers and RA:
- Tumor markers are elevated in patients with rheumatoid arthritis and do not indicate presence of cancer https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22462421/
- Serum Tumor Marker Levels in Rheumatoid Arthritis https://jag.journalagent.com/aot/pdfs/AOT_49_3_237_242.pdf

I'd be interested to hear if your cancer team suggests a different monitoring test for you. I can imagine getting the results of elevated CA 25-27 is nerve-wracking.

Hi, @cchappy22 & @colleenyoung! I do have RA and my CA 27.29 levels have fluctuated and in September were up over 36, but not over 40. My oncologist didn't seem concerned about the values so far. She has told me she takes many test values and my own history into account to determine whether to worry or not. For background, I'm 52, first BC Dx was 1997, second was 2021. I was Dx with RA around 2012ish. In 1997 I had lumpectomy, lymph node removal, AC chemo, 35xRadiation, 5 years tamoxifen. In 2021 I had bilateral mastectomy and now AI (no chemo or radiation this time around).

Thank you very much for tagging me on this! I will definitely be sharing this, as my team doesn't seem to be familiar with R/A. Super helpful. 🙂