ca125 normal after 1 and half month femara

[roderick1975]

I d like to seek an opinion my mom had her operation  last november , ca125 then was in hundreds , after surgery she took femara then mid  january  we had her  ca125 tested its normal  which is 7 .. between the normal  range  she had  also  some alternative medicine like  maitake gold which included  shitake ,agaricus  mushroom as well. Are we on the  safe side now  that her ca125 is normal ? should we be content  with what we are doing now ?

[OzBron]

Personally I would not be confident of making the decision on only 2 CA125 results. 2 results can not really tell you if it is a good marker. Perhaps the result was high presurgery due to inflamation (and Stage 4 would cause this) and that it isn't actually a good marker for you. Otherwise it may be fine. I would want another result to feel more confident.
I don't actually understand how surgery alone and Femera would be sufficient for stage 4. Stage 4 indicates lymph involvement and / or tumours beyond the pelvic cavity. With stage 4 you may also have other major organs involved such as bowel, bladder, liver, lungs and removing the tumours may be challenging.So surgery is rarely enough.
Unless your mother was lucky and was symptomless indicates and had the cancer for a while it more likely indicates an agressive cancer.
I agree with Gail - you need to know where the cancer was, what type of cells, what grade, was ascitespresent , is it eostrogen positive etc before making this kind of decision.
I also echo shewrites - unless your mother is unable to make the decision and you must do it - it is her body and her decision. If the surgery was in November. The Femera may have been a stop gap while she recovers from surgery.
Seek 2nd and even 3rd opinions (and by this I mean opinions from gyn/oncs not other docs). Help her to gather as much information as she needs to make an informed decision.
Sorry for the long winded response!
Best wishes to your mum, Bron

[shewrites]

Please don't make these decisions for your mother.  Think how you will feel if you make bad choices.  She needs to understand her own situation and make her own decisions.  

She will certainly want your support and assistance throughout, and I applaud you for your interest and energy.  Just don't take control away from her.  The disease has already done that, and she needs to have her own "say."  

Best of luck to you  

[roderick1975]

The 3 doctors who recommended chemo has not seen the result yet of her  ca125  .. were  still continuing femara  as what  her  1 onco suggest .. we are about to seek their opinion . The recommedations ( 3 for chemo /1 for  femara ) made by the  4 doctors  were before surgery or debulking  ..after surgery I decided  to give her only femara .then we had the normal ca125 ..The doctor  who  suggested to have her on chemo despite a normal tumor marker was her gastroentorologist  . My  question is  some say  tumor markers  are  not reliable .. ?  Anyone who would like to share their  experience ? We are going to consult the doctors soon .. .

[gah_70]

I am all but in remission myself from taking an aromotase inhibitor similar to Femara.  I tried Femara, but it didn't agree with me, so I switched to Aromasin, which works the same way.  If your mother is achieving remission from Femara, then I would ask the 3 doctors recommending chemotherapy why they recommend it.  Do you know if her cancer cells are low grade or high grade?  If they are high grade, then chemo is more than likely a good choice, side effects and all.  I think being diagnosed at stage 4 would make me think I'd want to cover myself and opt to go ahead and do it.  Like the others have said, there are things out there to help make the side effects a little more tolerable.  But knowing what I know now, I'd ask about the grade.  If they are low grade (i.e. not aggressive), chemotherapy is not likely to work on them.  Cancer cells that are not aggressive and do not split quickly do not typically respond to chemo.  But, if there is a chance there are some aggressive cells in there, then yes, please encourage her to go ahead and do chemo.  

Gail  

[jane65]

Hi Lucy,
Femera sounds very interesting at this point for me. Hopefully I'm approaching the end of my Topotecan treatments. I must ask my oncologist if I've been tested for being estrogen receptor positive, it never came up in discussion. I'm 65 and my ovaries were removed but I believe I had heard the fat cells produce estrogen. My last remission was only a few months, so I'm very concerned.

[bohan54]

If 3 out of 4 docs say do chemo, that would be the deciding factor for me.  The side effects are no fun but tolerable for most women.  Chemo would likely give her the best chance at a longer life.

[roderick1975]

my  mom was diagnosed as stage  4  , we sought consult with a lot of doctors one doctor did not  recommend  chemo but just letrozole  .. we sticked with that .. we again seeked  consult   with another  doctor and she said  still go through chemo .. even with ca125 being normal..she says that  even if  its normal  .. she is  59 y/o ..doctors  3 out of  4  recommends chemo  before but we sticked  with  letrozole  because of our fear  of the side effects of chemo .. should we  or should we not  ..

[lucymullis]

Femara is an aromatase inhibitor, which inhibits the body from producing estrogen.  I have a friend that got 2 remissions from taking Femara.  She was stage IIIC.  Her first remission was 15 months and her second one was 11 months.
Only 1/3 of women with estrogen receptor positive ovarian cancer response to Femara so your mom is fortunate in that.  I'd stick with it for now since it seems to be working and "save" other treatments in case she needs them.  Hope she will not and will continue to do well.

[Cindy809]

I agree with Sharon, we need more information.  The good news is that her CA125 is 7.  I am assuming she didn't have chemo and just went on femara.  She must have been very early stage and chemo was not recommended.  I've heard of that before.   I counted back to November and she would be finishing up her chemo in Feb.  To answer your question, the surgery and the femara probably brought the number down.  Since she's on several different natural remedies there is no way of knowing what is working and what is the safest way to treat her.  I'd stay with the femara.  I don't think the natural remedies could hurt her.  Is she feeling well?  I don't know how long someone can stay on Femara. If she didn't have any chemotherapy, ask her doctor why?  I have a friend that only had to do 3 treatments because she was very early stage and almost 5 years out without a recurrence.  Cindy

[bohan54]

More info needed.  How old is your mom?  Does she have ovarian cancer?  If so, what stage?  Was chemotherapy recommended?  
Re: safe?  Since my diagnosis of OVCA, I believe I will never be safe but will strive to enjoy every good day I get.  I will get thru the bad days believing there will be another good one.
Sharon