please help with Tumor Markers!!!!!!

Yes....mine continue to jump between 15-24.....and like you TM's terrify me still..... Even 5 years out I am on pins and needles waiting to find out what the number is going to be.  That part in my journey has not gotten easier.

I think with the hormonal it rises with the dead cancer cells in your blood.   after chemo/rad treatment I was at 13 and got put on a hormonal.....it then jumped to 21 and then 24......like you now I was freaking out.....but it eventually dropped to 17 and then 15.

Funny (well I guess not) that we all go through the same thing.....

Hang in there......I really am sure that you are fine.

Jacqueline

What is the normal reading for tumor markers?

What are the normal readings......well it depends on which of the tumor markers your onc does...

CA 15.3  is 0-32

CA 27.29  is 0-38

Jacqueline

Anna

First....yes it is very normal that after you finish most of your chemo...anxiety picks up....I guess because we feel we are fighting hard while we are taking chemo and then when we are almost done or done you feel like your safety net is gone.....it takes awhile but eventually things will calm down and you will get back to not freaking so much.

As far as tumor markers.....some doctors don't do them.... personally I am glad my doctor does them....albeit scary.  He may be doing them and just not telling you the results...you have to decide if you want this added anxiety of getting them.

I usually have my bloodwork/tumor markers done a week before my doctor's visit so that we have the results when I meet with him.......it beats doing them the day of the visit and getting the results later and freaking out about them without the doctor.  He tends to calm me down if they have gone up slightly.

Jacqueline

There is another tumor marker my oncologist uses, which is the CEA, which has a lower range. Normal is 2 or under, but normal for smokers can be up to a 5. 

My oncologist did the CEA for me right before starting chemo and after my double mastectomies, and it came out high - a 10. So we figured we were doing the right thing by using an aggressive TCH x 6 plus Herceptin for the balance of the year for my T1N0M0 HER2+ cancer. But then we did the CEA again after chemo, and it went UP to a 13 after all that hell. So now we have to go on a fishing expedition to see whether there is more breast cancer in the form of mets, or another malignancy entirely.

Dx 8/18/2008, IDC, .9mm, Stage 1, Grade 3, 0/3 nodes, ER+/PR-, HER2+

Hi Ladies,

It has been awhile since I have posted, almost 5 yr survivor (Dec. '09)

Everything going well, had my routine oncologist visit last week. They called this morning to say my tumor markers that have been around 18 all this time have jumped to 66. Went and had another blood test this afternoon. I know there is nothing I can do, but worry until I get report.

I am thinking it can't be good, since it almost tripled. Any thoughts? Thanks so much for any input.Trying not to freak out.

Hi Nash,

I had a repeat tumor market test and it was still elevated. So off tomorrow (yes on a Saturday!) for a PET scan. Oh, I really dread this. I am feeling fine and hope it is just a bump in the road. I will let you all know what the results are. Fingers Crossed - 

Hello Kirby,

I am in the same situation.  I think it is my CA 27.29 that was being taken but the I stupidly was not asking for results to help me make some decisions.  My oncologist stated the June test was 30 and I am not certain of results prior to June at this time (but he had discussed double mastectomy due to a possible BRCA connection that I later tested negative for) and my July test was 40 and I was tested again in August to be at 60 so the test was repeated and it is at 66 two weeks later. 

I am going to get a PET scan on 9/11 which is lovely since I am a New York State resident... I am also having hemmoragic bleeding and had my period since July 28th very heavy as one would in the first 10 days after having a child...I was not pregnant and could not have been pregnant.  I also had a viral flu between the level 60 and level 66 result. 

I am beside myself as I have young children (one of which has a learning disability). 

Has anyone had it jump like this and then go back down or had menopausal issues or endometriosis that was the cause of similar test results? 

At this point I want all parts that are not necessary to maintain life removed!!!

I am new with the tumor marker testing.  I had two tumor markers done a couple weeks ago based on bone mets  with possible lung involvement.  The Ca125 marker was 743, normal is 38.The Ca27.29 was 48, normal 35.  The oncologist said the CA125 marker was to be expected since the bone biopsy was positive for breast cells.  Has anyone ever had the ca125 marker this high for this type of recurrence.  A week after I was diagnosed I developed bronchitis along with a very severe head cold.  Could this have raised the counts?

Went for my bloodwork last week - 1 month comparison for 27.29 tumor marker.  Previous was 743, this month was 375. I errored when I posted on 9/14.  Onc did not check the CA125 this time.  Previous was 48.  Is it "normal" for the Ca27.29 to drop so drastically in one month.  Once you start treatment for bone mets, what time frames are people experiencing before the tumor marker falls within a reasonable range, ie in this care less than 38. All other blood work was same as previous month. 

It is my understanding we all have active cancer cells - it's just when the immune system is unable to protect our bodies that these cells start multiplying and invade areas of our bodies causing us to have the cancer issues we are experiencing.  Tumor markers are an additional mode for the doctors to use to determine how the cancer is reacting to the meds they are using to treat the cancer.  These tumor marker readings can go up and down if you have been on any other medication recently, if you have experienced a recent cold or flu virus, or if you have changed your cancer meds recently.  There is an interesting book on the market that explains this along with the other blood test results that any lay person can understand.  It is Mosby's Manual of Diagnostic and Laboratory Tests.  The new 4th edition is suppose to be on the market next week.  If you are referring to the CA27.29 tumor marker, normal reading is 0-38.  You did not state which tumor marker test the doctor is using as there are several out there.  Don't know if this helps answer your questions.  I had two markers done - the CA27.29 was 743 and the next month it was 375.  The CA125 was 48, normal range is 0-38.  I recently was diagnosed with metastatic bone cancer and the bone biopsy indicated estrogen postive breast cancer cells. .  I am on Zometa monthly injections and 2.5mg. Femera daily.

I am so glad that I just read this post as I had an elevated CA 27-29 of 94, but nothing to go off as they haven't been doing this blood test when i see the oncologist every 6 months.  there is a spot on my sternum from my bone scan this week but reading about that blood test is very reassuring that this may not be cancer after all.  i am not in active treatment as I have been NED for 4 1/2 years, praying that it will continue that way and that this spot if just something else other than cancer raising it's ugly head at me.

I am looking at my Mosby's Medical Manual and it says "a partial or complete response to treatment will be confirmed by declining levels.  Likewise, a persistent rise in these antigen levels despite therapy strongly suggests progresive disease.---Many diseases, both benign and malignant, can cause elevevations in these values.  Therefore they cannot be used to diagnose recurrence.  --These tumor markers are better suited for indicating response of metastatic disease to treatment ((when already elevated)."  The listing of other diseases are lung, ovary, pancreas, prostate, and colon, fibrocystic disease of the breast, cirrhosis, and hepatitis.  Based on the above infomation, this is telling me that the tumor markers in addition to other tests must be used in order to make a more accurate determination of your cancer status.  Maybe relying on tumor markers alone is not such a good thing to go by.  Also note, if anyone who has had cancer is tested by a tumor marker, that tumor marker apparently will show an amount and that amount should be under whatever the maximum is for that test.  In the case of 15-3 the range is 0-31.  Don't know if this helps but thought I would post it. 

My understanding of CA 15-3 is if one's value is above normal at the time of an early stage diagnosis and after therapy returns to the normal range, the CA 15-3 may be potentially useful as an observational marker of recurrence if desired to be utilized by the patient and the doctor. I believe this is what is stated on ASCO's (American Society of Clinical Oncology) tumor marker guidance.

This has not been found if the CA 15-3 in the normal range at diagnosis of early breast cancer.