Tumor Markers

MStill

After 4 AC chemo and 1 Taxol chemo, my tumor markers went up and are now both double the normal high range.  Although everything I read tells me that the CA 15-3 and 25-27 tumor markers are an indication of the presence of cancer in your body, and that they are used to determine if treatment is working, my onc says not to worry.  How do I do that?  Has anyone else experienced an increase like this?

MsPharoah

MStill, I am not TN, but when I had chemo, my tumor markers were just short of doubling.   I definitely understand your worry, but try to relax and let the chemo do its work!   I know it is hard, but trust your oncologist in this.  My markers are back to "normal" if there is such a thing but it took many months.

MsP

WinningSoFar

Maybe your tumor markers are not indicative of your treatment.  Mine have no relationship to whether the chemo is working or not.  My doc doesn't even order them for me anymore as they are just meaningless. 

Moderators

Hi MStill, and welcome to BCO. 

We are copying and pasting this from the following page of content on our site:  

Blood Marker tests

While breast cancer blood marker tests are promising, they're not absolutely conclusive. When a breast cancer blood marker test comes back negative, it doesn't necessarily mean you're free and clear of breast cancer. And a positive result doesn't always mean that the cancer is growing. These tests may help with diagnosis, but using cancer marker tests to find metastatic breast cancer hasn't helped improve survival yet.

When deciding if you should get tested for breast cancer blood markers, there are some things you may want to consider:

• cost: the tests can be expensive
• anxiety: not just from an elevated blood marker, but by all the tests you may need to find out what's causing the marker to go up

Talk to your doctor about the possible benefits and risks of blood marker testing in your unique situation.