CEA level

Hi Astridian

During chemo it was on my mum’s blood panel . I have heard recently that some hospitals have stopped using them . However your Gp should have access to them prior to any treatment commencing so if the hospital did record it you could ask them . 
It is not reliable enough to use as a diagnostic tool and some people don’t have any rise in theirs at all . My mum’s was a small increase . However it can be useful if it’s reliable to indicate a spread and to pull a scan forward . My mum has had that a few times .

Also it can unreliable for some people during chemo as it can start to get influenced by chemo itself . That also happened to my mum however it also showed an initial downward trajectory which they like to see but scans remain the most reliable tool . It has its place though !

All just my own opinions from reading and experiences with my mum ! They can also show false positives but I still think they still have a role in my humble opinion!

take care ,

Court 

Hi Court

Mant thanks for the detailed and informative reply, as you say, scans are the most reliable progress check, just wondered why so many refer to the CEA level, you've put my mind at rest

Many thanks

Ian

They can cause so much anxiety as other factors can cause them to rise like inflammation in the body ! This has happened the last two years to my mum as she aged a little . They retake it a month or so later and if still high rescan . All scans were fine but the patient is left sweating it out and I think some Drs have issues with that aspect ! However for some people it allows them to recommence treatment when required.

Take care ,

Court 

Hi Ian

FBC = Full blood count, Hb= Haemoglobin Plts= Platelets and Neutrophil levels all indicate how healthy your blood is as it takes a battering during chemo.

CEA is a protein that tumours often make 1-3 in a non smoker or 1-5 in smoker is " normal" an increase in CEA can indicate an active tumour...however its not very reliable as approx 1 in 6 tumours dont actually make it, some hospitals dont even bother with it at all

dom

Hi, as has already been said CEA doesn't show in some patients, for my husband it's a very good marker, at diagnosis his CEA was 14,026 after 7 rounds of chemo 870 and scans showed great shrinkage, he's now in double figures 86 after the last 6 chemos just awaiting next scan results. The results come every 2 weeks as it's part of the bloods taken before each chemo. Copied this from a post by a nurse, explains it pretty well.