CEA levels, should I be worried?

kathysea

I recently had a routine blood test by my oncologist.  CA 27.29 was under 12, white blood cell count was 11.6, and CEA level was 11.8.  I am scheduled to repeat the blood test in two weeks but wondering how worried I should be.  Anyone out there with similar experience with tumor maker readings please let me know what your outcome was.

SpunkyGirl

Gosh, Kathy, I thought those were all very good numbers!  Why are they repeating the tests?  Your numbers do look very good, and tumor markers are notoriously unreliable anyway.  I definitey wouldn't worry about your health based on this.  I'm not familiar with what the range on the white cell count should be.  Maybe they are just concerned about that?  Please keep us posted.

Hugs

Bobbie

kathysea

Hi Bobbie,

Thank you for responding Bobbie, hope all is going well with you

The CA 27.29 is good that I know, it's the White blood count that is elevated a little it should be between 4.3 and 10.8.  The one I am concerned about is the Carcino Embryonic Antigen (CEA), that one should be below 3 and mine is 11.8.  The CEA marker is for detecting cancer in the colon, lung, kidneys, breast, and other organs.  Just wondering if anyone's metastatic breast cancer was found by this type of tumor marker.  I am not only a breast cancer survivor but a melanoma survivor since 11-08 so there are 2 different cancers that could come back to haunt me and I guess that is why I am a bit concerned.

I'll pray for your good health as I do for all breast cancer survivors.

Sincerely,

Kathy

diana50

my oncologist used CEA too; and yes, at different times it was elevated...up to 10. there are various things that can elevate CEA and also white cells; infection for one...inflamation...usually what i my oncologist would do is look at them again 4months down the line. she also said that as far as the CEA it would have to be really elevated...like 20-50 points to begin to really look. my white cells really elevated at one time when i had some broken ribs..(not from cancer..but from radiation) but the white count came down once i was healed up.  i don't know if this helps but anytime blood work is "not normal" it is easy to get rattled. so, retesting later often times is a good way to moniter it. hang in there.

Lindaellen

I am so nervous.  My husband diagnosed with Stage 3c breast cancer- had mastectomy, ACT and radiation.  Finished 3 months ago and had first post treatment blood work.  CA 15-3 went from 30 to 28 but cea went from 3.4 to 8.7.  I've read it could be caused by the chemo and radiation,maybe test done too soon.  Does thisusually mean it has metastisized?

SpecialK

linda - my CA27/29 was 3 times high normal after chemo, all from inflammation.  It eventually came down incrementally.  Many oncs look at these tests to see which way they are trending, not specifically at one isolated number.  If they continue to trend out of high range then they may be signalling a problem.

Lindaellen

Thank you so much for this.  We haven't spoken with the oncologist yet.  My heart is just beating out of my chest.

diana50

they look for numbers WAY out of normal.  there are things that go on in our bodies that can cause markers to rise; specifically inflamation,illness (beign) drugs you take...( ie..antidepressents)  ...there are so many things that can cause elevation of markers.  they look at ALL the blood work; chemistry, CBC...how you feel.  all of those things are taken into consideration.  CEA and CA27>29 can elevate but not necessarily mean cancer. 

ma111

Pregnancy and other conditions can cause an increase in CEA. I did not know that the ca 27-29 could go that low.

Cynthia1962

There are a lot of factors to consider, but in my situation, my mets were found when my markers including CEA went up. This is not the case for everyone.  I just happen to have cancer cells which shed these markers.  So, after my tx for my initial bc, my tms went down and stayed there very consistently for about 3 yrs, then went up.  This was a sign that something was up and no surprise, I had a new pain in my hip area.  A bone scan showed mets.  Arimidex brought the markers back down for about 6 months, before they rose again.  Switched to Faslodex and had a great drop in CEA, down to almost 3, but now it has risen to 5.  Scheduled for bone scan.  I'm expecting to learn that the Faslodex is no longer working.  So, in my case, my onc looks at the pattern rather than the numbers.  He even told me not to worry about this slight increase because it can be due to many other factors, but I think this will follow the same pattern as before. 

So, if your CEA is always around this number, than that's just normal for you.  If it's usually normal, than your elevated white blood count could be affecting it or something else.  It's good you're having your bloodwork checked again.  Good luck!

kathleen1966

Wow, very interesting information regarding the tumor markers.  I always worry about them. I have only had the 15.3 marker.  It has always been between 18 and 22, before chemo, all through chemo and now. I had no idea anti-depressants could cause them to rise.  I had been on them for two years before bc and then all through treatment.  I am not on them now. I hope this information has helped you.  It does seem like your tumor markers are not all that out of range but it is good to be on top of things.

Lindaellen

Thank you all.  Spoke with the oncologist last night.  She isn't worried.  My husband is a diabetic- she said diabetics tend to have higher cea levels.  She also said that colon polyps could do it- he was due for his 5 year colonoscopy so he is doing that. She also said the treatment definitely could cause a jump in the cea even though he finished chemo in July and radiation in October.  She said they are much more concerned with with CA 15-3 with breast cancer and his was normal (actually went down from immediately post surgery/pre adjuvant).  Sooo, I am breathing again without xanax until we sweat out the Petscan.  Thanks for all the info.

spiper41

My last test results showed a normal range of 0 to 31.1 for CA 15-3.  So 30 is normal and so is 28.   I wouldn't worry even if it were a bit above normal.  When the number starts to climb rapidly, then you worry.  I knew nothing about CEA since I have never had that done in 5 years of treatment for metastatic breast cancer.  From what I have just read, I am wondering why doctors do it.  It doesn't seem to be very specific for breast cancer since so many things can result in a high number.  I wouldn't worry about it for now.