Slightly Elevated Ca125

[Hope8882]

In June 2006 (age 23) I was Dx with ovarian cancer (Mucinous). My ca125 before starting chemo was a 14. I then had 4 treatments of taxotere/carboplatin scheduled every 3 weeks. At the end of Nov. 2006 I had another surgery, in which my omentum, appendix and lymphnodes were taken and had a complete hysterectomy. All pathology came back clean. As a result of the surgery I developed a infection in my incision and was placed on a wound vac till the middle of Jan. 2007. In Feb 2007 I started my 3 rounds of "precautionary" chemo treatments. I finished those and everything was well. Doctors told me they were confident I was in the clear. In Aug 2007 I started having pain in my side again. I was sent for a CT scan. The cause of the pain was Dx as a hernia. My ca125 at my Sept 11th follow-up was a 5, which it had been for awhile. I had another follow-up the 19th of this month with my Oc/Gyn. He told me that my CT was perfect, but that my ca125 was a 61. I was told not to worry yet that it could be a number of things other than cancer. What I want to know is, is it possible for the hernia I was dx with in Aug. could be the cause of the elevation? If so, could it be possible for it to show a normal ca125 a month later and an elevated ca125 2 months later? Also, Can a possible yeast infection be the cause of elevation?
I will be thankful for any info or opinions on this....
many blessings,
Hope

[dd0866]

Hi Hope - I wish you a full recovery. I wish that my mother's ca125 was so low. I am greatful that it has come down so much...I just only learned what the 'normal' range was. When my mother was first diagnosed, her ca125 was in the thousands. Now, it has gone down to 1300. Yes, one thousand, three hundred. This is after surgery(she has her omentum and appendix, complete hysterectomy, lymph nodes....oh my...so much. She is only 68. You are only 23...I'm so happy that you caught this early...sounds like you caught this early. I hope you are eating well/getting good nourishment. Anti cancer foods and all...God Bless you. I'm looking for entries from women that have beat stage 4 ovarian cancer --- with the levels of ca125 as my sweet mother has...I just hope to gain insight how to help my mother fight this.

[Hope8882]

I went for my post check-up today. My Ca125 was back in the normal range and is now a 6.......YIPPIE!!! Not as good as the 5 it has been in the past but I'll take 6 over 61 any day. So I guess something else had to be the cause of the elevation. She said that we needed to look into fixing the hernia but she wanted to wait a year to do it, seeing as I've pretty much been split in two twice in the last year. So all is well now, I go back in Feb. for my 3 month check-up. Thanks to all for the help, it is very much appreciated. Don't always expected the worst, cuz sometimes its not that big of a deal.

Blessings to all,
Hope

[stephlovespeter_xo]

n response to your question about the CA125, my grandmother was just recently diagnosed with Ovarian Cancer over a year ago and she underwent the CA125 test as well. Oddly enough, the test came back normal. After speaking with several doctors on this matter (I am currently dealing with ovarian problems as well), every single doctor i have spoken to has said that CA125's are good as a marker but can often times come up showing a false-positive, leaving many families worried of an elevated count when really, there isn't one. My specialists also told me, apparently a lot of times, CA125's will come back positive if a cyst is present on the ovaries or if the patient is experiencing a flare up of endometriosis. There are apparently a number of different reasons for a CA125 level to be elevated. In fact, some doctors have even stopped testing CA125's on their patients due to the large amount of false positives.
I really hope this helps,
- lots of hope and faith through this troubling time

[Annekathryn Goodman, M.D.]

Dear Hope,
You have been through so much!

Your Ca 125 is confusing. I would repeat it in a few weeks to see if it is related to inflammation. If it continues to see elevated, I would suggest that you get your hernia fixed and at the same time have a look around the abdomen with  laparoscopy.

Ask your doctor about those options.
Let us know what happens.
blessings to you!