Elevated CA 27/29 with respiratory infection - anyone else?

cp418

I went on a short vacation involving air travel 2 weeks ago. I forgot to shut the air vent and allowed the air vent to blow on me. 2 days later I got a severe sore throat, head cold and respiratory infection. Last week, I saw my oncologist who did blood work and gave me my Prolia shot. My CA 27/29 came back elevated at 41 where previous result was 23. I still have cough and some nasal discharge. I'll repeat the lab test next week but wonder if anyone else has encountered this situation. I'm hoping the respiratory infection was the cause. I usually recover quicker but this was a nasty head cold. My other labs appear within normal range for what they are worth.... Thanks!

dlb823

cp, I'm going to guess your elevated CA27-29 probably was the result of your respiratory infection and the inflammation that goes with it. I've had two friends go through the same thing recently, and both ended up having CT scans that were totally clear. I know it's always worrisome until proven otherwise, but 41 isn't all that high, and most likely related to your illness. Deanna

cp418

Thank you for replying! It was very stressful getting this phone call. I was still in the middle of this respiratory infection when I had this onc appt. I didn't want to postpone as I was getting a Prolia injection and to re-schedule might be a major delay. I was still in the coughing stage and taking decongestants am/pm. They rescheduled me to repeat the lab test next Wednesday but that is only 1 week past. I think I will call and postpone for another week or two until this nasal / sinus symptoms are resolved. I'm not over it yet - all head discharge now.

KBeee

Most docs do not test the tot markers because they do go up for things related to inflammation. They are good to show trends over time though. Hopefully yours will come down once the infection clears