The CEA test stands for Carcinoembryonic Antigen. It’s a blood test to look for cancer markers in your bloodstream. Click here for more information about it: CEA Test
Over the last two years I’ve asked my oncologist if my CEA was elevated. She always told me it was not elevated. Last week I requested a copy of all of my CEA results so that I could make them available to the 2nd opinion oncologist. That was also the first time that I had them in my possession so I got a chance to look through all of them. And it’s true: the result was always in the normal range. However, if you look more closely a pattern can be established. After my 1st surgery and during the 1st chemotherapy rounds the CEA was very low, nearly undetectable. But then immediately after that chemotherapy was finished it started to rise. It was 0.6 on September 2, 2008 which was my final day of chemotherapy. Then on September 26, 2008 it was 1.2. On December 9, 2008 it was 2.2. The CT scan that I had on December 2, 2008 is the one that detected the spots on my liver. So, anyway, I had liver surgery and 12 more rounds of chemotherapy. Right after my surgery my CEA level was 1.0. Shortly after that it had dropped to <0.5, which means it was below the detection level of the test. It remained at <0.5 all throughout the 12 cycles of chemotherapy. My 2nd round of (12 cycles of) chemo was from 2/23/2009 – 8/17-2009. On 8/17/2009 my CEA level was <0.5. On 11/3/2009 it was 1.7. On 1/8/2010 it was 1.5. On 3/11/2010 it was 2.5, its highest level yet. However, at that time my oncologist decided that it was safe to start pushing my scans out to every three months instead of every two months. In the face of a rising CEA I would have expected to be scanned sooner, not later. Now that my new mass is found would you like to know what my CEA level is? 12.8. Now it’s “officially” outside of the normal range. Keep in mind that the normal range for non-smokers is <3.9, so it’s true that all of my CEA levels were not elevated in the official sense. However, I do believe there is some value in noting that it had been rising again. My oncologist did not pay attention to that detail and for that I am highly annoyed. We are going to switch to the new oncologist and I have made him aware of this CEA bit and expressed to him that I do hope he pays better attention to the details.
One last thing about the CEA: Since it is elevated it’s almost guaranteed that this new mass is from the original colon cancer, so the need to do a biopsy is greatly reduced. So, I may not have it biopsied.
Now, about the Stanford GI Tumor Board: Last Friday I got a call that the GI Tumor Board for this week (the 23rd) and been cancelled and that I am now scheduled for the next one on the 30th. This week on the 23rd, however, the new oncologist will present my case to his tumor board and we will return to meet with him directly afterwards. I will see if his plan of attack has changed. I will still want the Stanford Tumor Board’s recommendations as well so I may not know definitively until next week what the whole plan is.
I will post any new findings here of course.
Over the last two years I’ve asked my oncologist if my CEA was elevated. She always told me it was not elevated. Last week I requested a copy of all of my CEA results so that I could make them available to the 2nd opinion oncologist. That was also the first time that I had them in my possession so I got a chance to look through all of them. And it’s true: the result was always in the normal range. However, if you look more closely a pattern can be established. After my 1st surgery and during the 1st chemotherapy rounds the CEA was very low, nearly undetectable. But then immediately after that chemotherapy was finished it started to rise. It was 0.6 on September 2, 2008 which was my final day of chemotherapy. Then on September 26, 2008 it was 1.2. On December 9, 2008 it was 2.2. The CT scan that I had on December 2, 2008 is the one that detected the spots on my liver. So, anyway, I had liver surgery and 12 more rounds of chemotherapy. Right after my surgery my CEA level was 1.0. Shortly after that it had dropped to <0.5, which means it was below the detection level of the test. It remained at <0.5 all throughout the 12 cycles of chemotherapy. My 2nd round of (12 cycles of) chemo was from 2/23/2009 – 8/17-2009. On 8/17/2009 my CEA level was <0.5. On 11/3/2009 it was 1.7. On 1/8/2010 it was 1.5. On 3/11/2010 it was 2.5, its highest level yet. However, at that time my oncologist decided that it was safe to start pushing my scans out to every three months instead of every two months. In the face of a rising CEA I would have expected to be scanned sooner, not later. Now that my new mass is found would you like to know what my CEA level is? 12.8. Now it’s “officially” outside of the normal range. Keep in mind that the normal range for non-smokers is <3.9, so it’s true that all of my CEA levels were not elevated in the official sense. However, I do believe there is some value in noting that it had been rising again. My oncologist did not pay attention to that detail and for that I am highly annoyed. We are going to switch to the new oncologist and I have made him aware of this CEA bit and expressed to him that I do hope he pays better attention to the details.
One last thing about the CEA: Since it is elevated it’s almost guaranteed that this new mass is from the original colon cancer, so the need to do a biopsy is greatly reduced. So, I may not have it biopsied.
Now, about the Stanford GI Tumor Board: Last Friday I got a call that the GI Tumor Board for this week (the 23rd) and been cancelled and that I am now scheduled for the next one on the 30th. This week on the 23rd, however, the new oncologist will present my case to his tumor board and we will return to meet with him directly afterwards. I will see if his plan of attack has changed. I will still want the Stanford Tumor Board’s recommendations as well so I may not know definitively until next week what the whole plan is.
I will post any new findings here of course.
