CA 125 Up and Clean CT Scan

I am StageIV, having been Dx in Jan 2008. Completed 8 rounds of Carbo / Taxotere and have been seen every 3 months for screening. My CA 125 has been running 9 and I have had no reoccurance. This past visit it was 70 and my CT scan is squeeky clean. I have no Sx and feel fine. I had an outbreak of Herpes when the blood was drawn, swollen glands, etc, a condition which is common for me. I am treated at Sloan. My MD obviously says there is nothing to treat except a number, which of course thry do not do. We wait until next 3 month visit as this may be a fluke, may be a systemic reaction to the Herpes. Has anyone else had a similar scenario. I obviously fear the Cancer is returning, but why the big jump in the number with nothng on the scan?? Any thoughts would be welcome. Thanks in advance!!!!!

[nyc lady]

Very scary!!!!  I don't blame you for feeling the way you do.  Maybe you can repeat the blood test sooner?  Why wait 3 months, maybe you can go in one month or 6 weeks????

It could be an infection....if it were me, I would probably want the test repeated sooner than the 3 month mark.

Good luck and keep us posted.
Pam

[milashka]

I have a similar situation. My marker is usually +/- 13, last week it was 26, 10 up from 16 in July. I had a scan two weeks prior and it was also squeaky clean. Still, I am worried. The oncologist was very subdued.

Our plan of action is rechecking it in two months. He would have done it at 30 days, but since I had a clean scan, there is no risk to wait 8 months. He left it up to me but he himself leaned toward 2 months, so that's what we'll do. If it is higher still and beyond 35, he will order a PET scan, however, I want to discuss this further with him.

In my panic I researched the entire web. I found that an elevated marker can precede symptoms or findings on scans by 3-4 months, sometimes even longer (1-2 years!). A PET scan, especially in combination with CT (PET/CT) is much better in detecting cancer than CT alone, I guess that's why he would use it (for the first time on me) to investigate the rise further. However, a lot of women if not most are only checked with the CT.

I guess your protocol will be the same as mine - they no longer treat the marker. Instead, you will be followed closely (with another rise I bet every 30 days) with markers and scans until either the scan shows something or you are starting to have symptoms. Of course, I now have symptoms everywhere daily :) Well, not really, I feel great, but you know - every pain I question now.

Depending on where the cancer recurs, whether or not it's isolated or spread over a large area, etc, will determine if there is surgery and chemo or just chemo. They now try to walk a very fine line of a) delaying chemo without letting cancer get unmanageable b) starting chemo as soon as sign of actually tumors are seen c) quality of life/chemo-free time of patient etc. It's not easy to hit the perfect time as to when to start with the treatments. I will leave it to my oncologist - more experienced than I am.

So, can it be something else? My onc asked me if I had a lot of stress lately. Yes I did, but I don't know if that was the cause. I also had a bug/intestinal flu the week prior to the blood draw and was still in a funk/head/sinus/ear cold when I saw him. It is a long shot, but any inflammation, infection, they say even stress or a cold can affect the readings, although I think those are last straws we try to hold on too. But who knows, herpes could have maybe caused the bump upwards for you.

I just learned from a friend today whose marker is around 6 and one time it was 17 (that's tripled!) but it came back down and they thought it was due to a sinus infection that she had at the time.

There's hope. Try not to worry, enjoy the three months of chemo-free life, and hope for the best next visit. Good luck!

[milashka]

BTW some women can have a marker of 500 and no signs of cancer on CT or PET, and feel just fine. I guess some oncologist may jump on the chemo then, but I'd prefer to wait until there actually is some finding somewhere. Keep in mind, the more often we have chemo, the greater the chance the treatments are less and less effective next time around - you don't want to use up your options too quickly if there is no evidence of disease.

[Ramsay14]

I had a breast biopsy done and the site became infected.  I was treated with antibiotics which resulted in an intestinal infection called C-Diff.  My CA-125 shot up 60 points with the infection and when the infection cleared my CA-125 came down to where it had been before.

[Help4ovarian]

My mom recently had clean ct scan and her ca125 rose from 80 to 400 to 742 in a very short time. We thought we were just treating number but doc said that there was microscopic disease there because my mom's ca125 as been sensitive to her disease and sure enough she had ascites to develop and had to have 1600 cc removed, which caused a bowel obstruction.  Just be watchful and attentive to your symptoms and enjoy every break from chemo that u can get!!!  I'm praying for u!!!

[NorthStar484]

Thanks to all for your comments. My MD was subdued as well, Milashka. Anyways. at Sloan each case is "rounded", meaning all Docs review every case. I will speak with my Onc next week after my case is "rounded". There may be a different approach recommended, i.e. repeat CA 125 sooner, scan as related to that result, etc. I feel very much in good hands with Sloan. I am trying not to obsess but I am simultaneously a realist, so , if it is returning now, we will deal with it.

My thoughts and prayers are with you as well!!!!!

[familyfirst235]

short and sweet- she jusy fininished her 1st bout with chemo and her #'s where a 17 THAN 34 NOW 39 SHE HAS DEVELOPED ASCITES WITH a lg amount of fluif present, One doctoc told her it was not good than her surgeon will see her wed for a biospy. I am so scared what test do i ask for asap, do I wait  to see what the results are-than what.Pls. help me. I can't loose her    


sandi