Ca 15-3 elevated Dr Not Concerned?

LoriBach

my oncologist runs tumor marker tests on me. They recently went up significantly after 6 years. I am awaiting results from the pet/ct. both my ca 27-29 went from 31 to 68 and my cea went from 1.1 to 11.8. These tests are the only insights in to our bodies besides symptoms. Yes, this rise causes me stress. With recurrence what it is, I am glad he watches them

FaithAndTrust

hi lori I sincerely hope you get good scan results👍

My Onc also does tumour markers which I too am glad about..surely some monitoring..even if somewhat unreliable... is better than waiting for symptoms to appear and more progressed disease..

Best of luck Lori it is not easy waiting for scan results..keep us updated if you feel comfortable to..🌻

Imagine

Mine just went up after 11 years. It is only slightly elevated but the CA15-3 was 32. It normally is only 23 and under sometimes 10-18 for years. I am very concerned. I have arthritis in my foot and it has been really acting up lately. Maybe I hoping but could that cause the test to be slightly elevated? I see on these posts in numerous areas that inflammation can cause elevations but I cannot find any mention of that online. Even after all these years I get scared

LoriBach

Faithandtrust, thank you for your comment. Most of what I have gotten back was “my onc doesn’t do TM testing”. Nice to have someone who feels the same way. I understand the pit falls, but it’s something. I will definitely update

LoriBach

Well it appears the TMs may have saved my life. MO called today. Enlarged lymph node in my chest and a couple of nodules in my lung. They said it could be recurrent BC, could be a new cancer as in Lung Cancer or Lymphoma. I see the pulmonologist tomorrow to get the bronchoscope scheduled. If it is lung cancer, it will have been caught at a very early stage and I never would have had the scans had my TM not been elevated

jo6359

Loribach- I'm wishing you the very best. I'm pleased for you that your elevated tm's provided a pathway for your doctor to order more screening. Hopefully there won't be anything serious. But as you said whatever it is, it was caught early. Best of luck to you

FaithAndTrust

dear Lori I am thinking about you and hope you are doing ok. Great that your TM numbers have alerted your team to something going on ..hopefully they will get on top of things for you now. Keep the Faith

ragman

I am the original poster in this thread and have not been here for a while. So to update, …apologies, this is going to be long, a lot has happened in the last 5 years.

As you can see from my original post, wife’s ca 15-3 had been climbing slowly but steadily for about 6 years, this was 20 years after treatment for Bresat Cancer, with no issues., and Dr kept saying it’s her normal he’s not concerned, even when it jumped from 40 to 49, in April 2016. well in September 2016, after a week of thinking she had a bad cold and cough, I came home from work and found she could not take 3 steps without having trouble breathing,

We went to the emergency room, and long story short her breathing difficulty was due to collapsed lung caused by plureal effusion (massive accumulation of fluid around the lung) and after numerous tests was diagnosed with Ovarian Cancer. She was tested for both CA 15-3, which was 75, and Ca 125 (Ovarian tumor marker) which was 1700! (Normal below 35).

after a grueling few months of surgery and chemo, her ca 15-3 dropped to 32. And her ca 125 dropped from 1700 to 4. So I can only conclude that the rising ca 15-3 was a result of the ovarian cancer. I blame her original breast oncologist for ignoring the rise. But that’s water under the bridge.

Ultimately her CA 125 has been , over the last 4 1/2 years fluctuating between 10 and 13.7, which is her normal range, . And we just received results of last weeks blood draw, ca 125 now at 10.7, down from 13.6 six months ago, so all good.

Her ca 15-3 has been fluctuating between 32 and 36, with her last 3 ca 15-3s over 18 months being 36, 36 and 34 most recently till now. While slightly above the normal range, it’s been stable, and her gynecological oncologist whose been following her, terrific Dr, has been very comfortable with it, So we have been happy. And thankful. Until now. We just received results from last weeks blood draw and while as mentioned above, Ca 125 was great, her ca 15-3 has jumped to 40, from 34 six months ago,

She has been followed for both tests by her gynelogic oncologist, and he has not been concerned since ca 15-3 while above the normal upper limit of 31, ha ps been stable. Last year he left the practice and our new Gyn onc last we saw her (first visit) suggested that since her specialty is ovarian cancer , not breast, she should be followed by a breast oncologist. She didn’t want another doctor in her life and after fighting it, I agreed, thinking as long as she is stable on markers, leave it alone let her have quality of life

So now, I am going to call Monday morning to get her a consult with a breast oncologist at the same hospital.

I know ca 15-3 is very sensitive but has low specificity, so I don’t know what to make of the reading of 40. Any opinions would be greatly appreciated.

pure0323

I don’t have any advice, I just wanted to take a minute and compliment you on your dedication to your wife. WOW! You are obviously involved and very knowledgeable about her situation. I’m lucky if my husband remembers my bday, much less any of my testing. Lucky lady!

ragman

I have no choice but to be involved, she can't deal with any of it, if I didn't make appointments she wouldn't ever go. I don't even tell her about appointments until the night before. It's ridiculous, but it's a phobia. It always amazes (and frustrates) me, because she is an otherwise extremely intelligent woman.

Anonymous

ragman - Phobias are hard. I'm sorry you both have this added hardship. It's not a bad idea to meet with a breast oncologist and get updated TMs. Remember you're looking for a trend up. My MO wasn't concerned about my CA 15-3 until it rose above 50. My highest was almost 1400. It's 64 at last check.

Whole story here:

https://community.breastcancer.org/forum/163/topic...

I hope hers is just a blip and returns to normal soon.

ragman

thank you Serenity for your response.

SeeQ

rahgman- yay for you for stepping up for your wife when she cannot. It may not apply to you, but my TM labs always have a comment about which lab and process was used, and then state the results from different labs are not interchangeable. Can you tell if it's always been the same lab? Wouldn't it be nice if it were as simple as that? FWIW - I use the same MO/office, but they use different labs now and then.

ragman

hi SeeQ, I always check and the lab has been the same for the last 4 year