cea at12

my wife was diagnosed in june of 08 with pancreatic cancer. After doing real well for 9 months,she is now having big troubles. In May she had to have her gall bladder removed,no cancer,just necrotic. We have been able to resume chemo treatments. I picked up a copy of latest blood work and noticed a CEA line item in addition to her normal ca19-9. The number beside the cea is 12,it appears that it is high. Is this number an accurate count for active colon cancer,or would it be pancreatic cancer metastisized to colon..Please any help???

Has the doctor indicated that there is a tumor in the colon?  CEA is not used to diagnose cancer, nor is it a good indicator for many of us even for follow up.  Don't freak out yet!  Get more info.  Here is what I found on cancer.org :

"This marker can be high in some other cancers, too. If the CEA level is high at diagnosis, it can be used to follow the response to treatment. It is often used for cancers of the lung and breast. CEA levels are also elevated in many other cancers such as those of the thyroid, pancreas, liver, stomach, prostate, ovary, and bladder. They are elevated in some non-cancerous diseases and in otherwise healthy smokers, too. "

Kimby 

 

Hi,

You say that you just restarted chemo treatments.  This can cause a spike in the CEA level.  The most important thing with CEA tests is what they do serially.  For example if your wife gets another one in a month and it is at 8, then another in 60 days and it is 4, then I wouldn't worry about the 12, but if it goes up sequentially then I would start to be concerned.

Jack