Question about tumor markers & PET scans!

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RyanT
RyanT Member Posts: 19
edited February 2019 in Stage IV/Metastatic Breast Cancer ONLY

Hello,

I've posted on behalf of my Mom for the past year and a half. She has bone mets and although she feels great, yesterday her doctor said her tumor markers went up and issued a PET scan to make sure they are not missing anything. Her scan is scheduled for next week. We have been told not to stress too much about tumor markers because they constantly change but of course it's stressful. Plus insurance is trying not to cover these PET scans! Our doctor said we can do CT scans instead but from our research PET scans are more effective than CT scans. Can anyone offer some advice?

Thank you,

Ryan

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  • Partyoffive
    Partyoffive Member Posts: 188
    edited February 2019

    Hi Ryan

    I just went through the same thing I’ve been stable with bone mets for the past 5 1/2 years my tumor markers have been 14 and right before Xmas they starting creeping up and recently they were at 55. I had cat scans which were stable but my onc wanted to do a pet scan and my insurance denied at first but he persisted saying the pet could catch the beginnings of a progression and after all said and done they did agree to cover the pet scan and I’m still stable but it’s worth the peace of mind to do it.

    Kristin

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  • pajim
    pajim Member Posts: 2,785
    edited February 2019

    RyanT, normally if you have bone mets it's a CT scan PLUS a bone scan, or a PET. I had PETs for the first few years. The last couple of years it's been CT/bone scan. I don't know why and haven't asked. My guess is my institution made some institutional decision.

    If my insurance balked at either one I don't know it.

    If they'll give her a bone scan along with the CT it should be fine. But PETs do tell you more than CTs alone, particularly for bone mets.

    Your Mom's MO is being proactive which is good. Just because the TMs rose doesn't mean more cancer burden. But it's possible.

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  • exbrnxgrl
    exbrnxgrl Member Posts: 12,424
    edited February 2019

    Bear in mind that not all mo’s believe in doing routine tumor markers. I have never had mine done, but had a PET every three months for the first two years, then moved to bi-annual and now do it annually. My mo is quick to scan if I feel any symptoms. However I belong to Kaiser Permanente, so there is no insurance approval needed. If my mo orders it, I get it

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