ca 125 levels stationary after 4th chemo to 6th chemo

[tym168]

Good Day to All,

My wife was diagnosed with ovarian cancer clear cell and staged 1c .Her ca 125 was 119 went down to 64 on her 3rd chemo

She had a complete hysterectomy and the doctors took out also her appendix and ommentum and both ovaries
She is right now scheduled for her last chemo this jun 13 .

We were hoping that maybe somebody could advice why her ca 125 on her fourth chemo it was 58.08 and on the fifth went up slightly to 58.38. now going into her last chemo we did another ca test and was surprised it is now 61.98.

We are trembling at the notion that her chemo is not taking effect and that the cancer cells are multiplying again.
Her doctor just tells us to wait and finish the chemo and do another ca test after a few weeks.

Does anybody here have any kind of info that can share with us. We are very nervous and hope that this is just a missed test or faulty test or something.

Appreciate any info anybody could share.

thanks and more power to the group

tym

[tym168]

thanks for the info .

and appreciate tremendously your comments and inputs.

more power to you and really appreciate the additional info you gave.

[Fernando Roque, MD]

Hi.  The normal value of CA-125 in blood is 0-35 units/ml.  The fact that your wife's CA-125 level initially went down but did not go all the way down to normal levels may mean that the tumor is only partially responsive to the chemotherapy being given.  Of course, the CA-125 level has to be correlated with other findings, particularly findings from imaging procedures (e.g. CT scan) and other clinical parameters, before concluding that this is indeed, a case of partial response.

I think it would be advisable to do serial determinations of CA-125 over the next 2-3 months to see where the level goes.  If the levels are progressively increasing, there may be a need to shift to another chemotherapy regimen, as the increase could mean that the present regimen is not having an effect on the cancer.  If the levels are stable, with only very small fluctuations between determinations (like what's happening now), there is an option to either continue the chemotherapy for a few more cycles, or to stop giving chemotherapy until new symptoms pointing to disease activity occur (e.g. progressive rise in CA-125, a new lesion on CT scan, weight loss).  

[4afriend]

I saw your post here and wanted to let you know that Med Help also has a forum for Ovarian Cancer.  If you go back to the forum listings, just click on Ovarian Cancer.  I know that you will find many wonderful people there to help you with questions and gain some understanding.  Very sorry to hear of what your wife and yourself are going through.  Sending good wishes your way, best of luck to you both...