1. < Colorectal Cancer

Had colon cancer and now CEA is rising: Scared

Posted by segerfan @segerfan, Apr 26, 2022

Colon cancer 10 year and now raised CEA
Just had a colonoscopy and it was fine. Went for my yearly check up and CEA is evaluated to 7. no weight loss, no loss of appetite. I am under a great deal of stress, family, marriage lose of a grandchild. Went back to vaping. Doctor is going to do a ct scan. I am scared to death.

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lida55 | @lida55 | Feb 27 11:59am
In reply to @roywalton "One additional comment on CEA. I had stage 3B as well My CEA before surgery was..." + (show)
@roywalton

One additional comment on CEA. I had stage 3B as well My CEA before surgery was 1.8, And I had a 3 cm tumor in my sigmoid colon. So I believe most institutions are not placing a great deal of reliance on CEA and I don't think you should either

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I wanted to add they got sample. I have all reports. But i thought should i
send them or not. I dont want to bother you.
Did you have lymph nodes involved or no??

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lida55 | @lida55 | Feb 27 12:01pm
In reply to @roywalton "One additional comment on CEA. I had stage 3B as well My CEA before surgery was..." + (show)
@roywalton

One additional comment on CEA. I had stage 3B as well My CEA before surgery was 1.8, And I had a 3 cm tumor in my sigmoid colon. So I believe most institutions are not placing a great deal of reliance on CEA and I don't think you should either

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It was sigmoid colon also. Macroscopic description, block description,
microscopic, diagnosis, molecular pathologic report, immunohistochemistry
report all i have.

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roywalton | @roywalton | Feb 27 12:35pm

If you know a sample of the tumor was taken as part of surgery suggest you have your doctor send the sample to Natera 650-446-4657, You can also call that number and talk to them about getting a CT DNA test established. It will take about 2 months for them to create a test from your tumor sample. Much better than CEA

Good luck

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1 reply
lida55 | @lida55 | Feb 27 1:24pm
In reply to @roywalton "If you know a sample of the tumor was taken as part of surgery suggest you..." + (show)
@roywalton

If you know a sample of the tumor was taken as part of surgery suggest you have your doctor send the sample to Natera 650-446-4657, You can also call that number and talk to them about getting a CT DNA test established. It will take about 2 months for them to create a test from your tumor sample. Much better than CEA

Good luck

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Unfortunately we live in iran and dont have access to that place. 😥

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magsbrad | @magsbrad | Feb 28 11:38am
In reply to @roywalton "Hi - thank you for all the information. It appears the treatment and follow up is..." + (show)
@roywalton

Hi - thank you for all the information. It appears the treatment and follow up is as expected, however I suggest it would have been much better if the surgeon would have taken more than 20 lymph nodes to get a broader assessment of The degree of metastasis. That being said it appears that a tumor sample was not taken at time of surgery and that prevents you from being able to assess with a circulating tumor DNA test. However I would ask your doctor if he could check on that and there's a potential you could continue your screening with either the Signatera test, or a new and possibly better test being offered by the company Exact Sciences, Madison Wisconsin. The most interesting thing however is the last point you made related to calprotectin, because as you know this essay looks for inflammation in the gut due to either a bacterial infection or other inflammatory bowel syndrome.... And it just so happens that any inflammation can cause an increase in CEA. Ask your doctor about this as well. So given the relatively low CEA level and the potential for inflammatory bowel disease I will be less concerned about cancer. I hope that's the case for you!

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I would agree with the conclusion above. It’s unlikely to a return of cancer at those low CEA levels. I went from 5 to over 90 in 4 weeks and had 3 metastasised from my original colon cancer to my liver. Luckily all 3 removed. I wouldn’t follow the advice from the other contributor. God bless.

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3 replies
magsbrad | @magsbrad | Feb 28 11:39am
In reply to @magsbrad "I would agree with the conclusion above. It’s unlikely to a return of cancer at those..." + (show)
@magsbrad

I would agree with the conclusion above. It’s unlikely to a return of cancer at those low CEA levels. I went from 5 to over 90 in 4 weeks and had 3 metastasised from my original colon cancer to my liver. Luckily all 3 removed. I wouldn’t follow the advice from the other contributor. God bless.

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SORRY AUTO CORRECTION
I WOULD follow the advice. Silly autocorrect!!

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1 reply
lida55 | @lida55 | Feb 28 12:19pm
In reply to @magsbrad "I would agree with the conclusion above. It’s unlikely to a return of cancer at those..." + (show)
@magsbrad

I would agree with the conclusion above. It’s unlikely to a return of cancer at those low CEA levels. I went from 5 to over 90 in 4 weeks and had 3 metastasised from my original colon cancer to my liver. Luckily all 3 removed. I wouldn’t follow the advice from the other contributor. God bless.

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Thank you for your help and advice also.
Good luck

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lida55 | @lida55 | Feb 28 12:28pm
In reply to @magsbrad "I would agree with the conclusion above. It’s unlikely to a return of cancer at those..." + (show)
@magsbrad

I would agree with the conclusion above. It’s unlikely to a return of cancer at those low CEA levels. I went from 5 to over 90 in 4 weeks and had 3 metastasised from my original colon cancer to my liver. Luckily all 3 removed. I wouldn’t follow the advice from the other contributor. God bless.

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But exactly i have this fear that ok this cea has reached to 4.6 now. 3
months later it will be 5 for example. Is it possible that it reaches from
4.6 to 90 or 60 or high numbers next time?????? Thats my fear.
Really i cant concentarte on anything even my work at office.
Ofcource maybe the answer is nobody knows.
If it reaches to those high leves again or above 5 it is likely the
recurrence???
Anyway We have to do ctscan and colonoscopy to find more things.

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2 replies
lida55 | @lida55 | Feb 28 12:35pm
In reply to @magsbrad "SORRY AUTO CORRECTION I WOULD follow the advice. Silly autocorrect!!" + (show)
@magsbrad

SORRY AUTO CORRECTION
I WOULD follow the advice. Silly autocorrect!!

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Of course. The advice of contributers is very helpful and heartwarming for
me.

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magsbrad | @magsbrad | Feb 28 1:56pm
In reply to @lida55 "But exactly i have this fear that ok this cea has reached to 4.6 now. 3..." + (show)
@lida55

But exactly i have this fear that ok this cea has reached to 4.6 now. 3
months later it will be 5 for example. Is it possible that it reaches from
4.6 to 90 or 60 or high numbers next time?????? Thats my fear.
Really i cant concentarte on anything even my work at office.
Ofcource maybe the answer is nobody knows.
If it reaches to those high leves again or above 5 it is likely the
recurrence???
Anyway We have to do ctscan and colonoscopy to find more things.

Jump to this post

Just to say I was diagnosed 4 years ago and my CEA has gone from single to double figures throughout. My highest with no cancer present was 15 it was caused by gut inflammation.
When last year the cancer managed to get to my liver in 3 places the CEA was very high. But even then the surgeon was able to remove the cancer.
The problem with this horrible illness is that it frightens people. I put my hand on my heart and say if I had your husbands low CEA I would be calmed. Those figures he has show inflammation imo not cancer. My surgeon said my cancer was slow growing and he was confident he could rid me of any reoccurrence. Your husband case sounds like mine. We are here 4 years later. I’m in the UK and keep in touch with the Mayo because I may need more advanced treatment in the future and the USA leads the way. You’re in good hands- the best hands. Best regards Maggie

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