CEA levels

Hi CxO It probably depends on the hospital and the oncologist. I’m not sure what mine was when first starting out but I know it was measured as part of my follow up checks - if you click on my name then you can see my timeline on my profile. 
The NICE follow up guidelines recommend that the CEA is checked along with CT scans for 3 years following completion of treatment

https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ng151/chapter/Recommendations#ongoing-care-and-support

Some people have bowel cancer but don’t have raised CEA levels which is why some hospitals don’t acknowledge or put too much emphasis on it. There’s some quite useful information about CEA in the article below although it is a few years old now?

 Managing your follow up & CEA

Hope this helps

Take care

Karen x

Thankyou for replying Karen! 
So are the CEA only checked after treatment to make sure the cancer is at bay or also through treatment/chemotherapy ? Or does it depend on the hospital like you say? 
Nobody has mentioned anything about it at the hospital, only learnt about CEA through reading the forum. 
Thankyou x

Hi

No, I don't think they are 100% accurate in determination of cancer; however, they are used as markers in some way.

When I was diagnosed in 2019 with Bowel Cancer, my CEA levels were 10. Following my Bowel resection, those numbers have slowly got down to 5 & 6. However, if you are a smoker, like me....Apparently these levels are risen. Normal readings are 0 - 3.6.

After 5 years, I still have blood tests taken every 6 mths. & CT scans annually.

According to my local Hospital Colorectal team - they would only be concerned if those CEA levels rise above 15.

Marianne

Hi CxO I’ll be honest, I can’t remember if it was mentioned during treatment or not? Perhaps your dad could mention it to the chemo nurses at his next session and see what the protocol is at that hospital? x

Thankyou Ladies. 
Will enquire at the hospital. 
Thanks x

Hi my husband was diagnosed with caecum cancer last November which had spread to his liver, he had surgery and started 6 months FOLFOX chemo in January, his CEA has been measured throughout his chemo, starting at over 400, last week he was told it was down to 12, they seem to use it as an indication of how the chemo is working. We are waiting the results of his mid point CT scan which was over a month ago which I think s a more accurate way to see what's going on. Although it may not be a definitive measure it gives us comfort that it's reducing. x

Hi RNE, 

My dad has colon cancer which has spread to liver. 
He was borderline operable but said they were putting him on Chemo to reduce the tumours first, before a liver resection. 
The Oncologist mentioned that Chemo doesnt work for everyone, so i was wondering if they measured CEA throughout to see if Chemo is working. 
Hes only on his first cycle at the moment. 
Im glad your husbands has declined so much, definately a good sign ️ 

Thankyou for your reply x

Hi CxO ,

My CEA levels were done before surgery and treatment to get a baseline and there were 4 at the time. After surgery + chemo it was down to 1. I was initially treated in NZ and they told me to get a scan if they went up to 2.5, although in the UK they set the threshold at 7. Over 2 years my CEA levels rose to 6 and I expressed my concern, which was dismissed by the colorectal nurse following me and it turned out the radiologist hadn't flag metastases in the lungs, was picked up a year later... Now on my 3rd course of chemo, CEA was up to 14 before starting treatment and after 5 cycles of chemo it is back down to 7.
Everyone's CEA levels are quite different and influenced by smoking and inflammation so it is difficult to set a threshold. I'm followed at the Christie and they usually measure my CEA every 2 weeks when they do the pre-chemo blood test. You can ask your onco to make sure they do it, I know that for me it is a good indicator of disease progression.

Hope that helps,

Cecile

I was one of those who wrote about CEA levels.  As others have said, it is a marker, only an indicator found in blood test results. Mine started very high at around 1,400, dropped to 1,100 soon after I started chemotherapy and then halved every two weeks.  They are currently around 47 after 3 months (7 cycles) of treatment for bowel cancer.  Everyone is different and will get different numbers.  When I had a recent consultation the size of the tumours in my liver had not reduced by the same amount as the CEA numbers, so I was given a sense of false hope, even though things are going in the right direction for me.

Hi CxO 

I had CEA measured every fortnight throughout chemo treatment and also as part of every diagnosis, pre surgery and surveillance review.

I was told that this was required to meet NICE guidelines even though I am one of those people that never has had a raised CEA - Apparently the protein marker isn't always triggered by some bodies.