1. < Colorectal Cancer

Worried about rising CEA levels

Posted by Dianne @diannechildress, May 31, 2017

I was diagnosed with colon cancer in 2009. At that time they removed 1/3 of my colon. We did blood screening through the Mayo clinic and they came back that I had a predisposition for polyposis. The cancer had not gotten out of the colon area. Over the next 7 years I was having regular colonoscopies and the doctor removed polyps every time. He recommended that I have the reminder of my colon removed and attache the small intestine to the rectum. That surgery was done January 2016. Up until this surgery was done my CEA levels were in the 3-4 range. This past April I was in to my oncologist for my check-up and my level has increased to 6.1. We redid the test again in 6 weeks which was yesterday and they have increased by 0.3 to 6.4. I was wondering if anyone else has had this problem? I have had my mammogram done and it is clear, I don't have any more colon so it can't be colon cancer, I had a hysterectomy when I was in my 20's so that rules out ovarian cancer. Any help with this would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

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roywalton | @roywalton | Apr 27 2:35pm
In reply to @jthompson4 "Hello, I am having many of the same issues with the CEA and need reassurance. I..." + (show)
@jthompson4

Hello,
I am having many of the same issues with the CEA and need reassurance. I was diagnosed with stage 1 colon cancer siz months ago and the polyps were removed. My cat scans and MRIs have all been normal, but my CEA keeps rising. It was 5.1 but now 5.5 after my most recent bloodwork. I am having alot of anxiety because of this. New oncologist appointment is scheduled for May 2. I'm concerned that because it has risen, they will order more tests. I have no reflux and am concerned that they will order an endoscopy. Not sure what they will say. I had a sigmoidoscopy maybe they'll order another colonoscopy? not sure what else they can order.

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There is no need for concern at those levels... Too much has been made of this test, eg Mayo is not concerned at all until you hit 20. 5 is considered normal and you are only seeing variability of the assay itself

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Moderator
Colleen Young, Connect Director | @colleenyoung | May 5 4:28pm
In reply to @jthompson4 "Hello, I am having many of the same issues with the CEA and need reassurance. I..." + (show)
@jthompson4

Hello,
I am having many of the same issues with the CEA and need reassurance. I was diagnosed with stage 1 colon cancer siz months ago and the polyps were removed. My cat scans and MRIs have all been normal, but my CEA keeps rising. It was 5.1 but now 5.5 after my most recent bloodwork. I am having alot of anxiety because of this. New oncologist appointment is scheduled for May 2. I'm concerned that because it has risen, they will order more tests. I have no reflux and am concerned that they will order an endoscopy. Not sure what they will say. I had a sigmoidoscopy maybe they'll order another colonoscopy? not sure what else they can order.

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@jthompson4, how did your appointment go with the new oncologist? What did they say about your CEA levels?

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1 reply
jthompson4 | @jthompson4 | May 6 12:20am
In reply to @colleenyoung "@jthompson4, how did your appointment go with the new oncologist? What did they say about your..." + (show)
@colleenyoung

@jthompson4, how did your appointment go with the new oncologist? What did they say about your CEA levels?

Jump to this post

Thanks Colleen,
They said that they will test cea in 1 month but that from the cat scans and mri it looks good and the cancer was caught early. She said that cea is slightly elevated but she is not very concerned. She said cea is looked more at on the west coast than the east but I’m not entirely clear why west coast docs put more weight on it. Thanks

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