CA125 level is 53 - This is new for me...help

[phanks53]

I am a 38 year old female. I recently had an Aunt on my husbands side die of ovarian cancer. I promised her before she passed away that I would get the CA125 test. I just got the results and they are elevated at 53. From everything I have read it seems low, but someone posted that their mother had that number and had cancer everywhere. I got a pelvic ultrasound this week, but the results were not in within 24 hours this Friday. During the ultrasound I noticed she did a lot of measuring like I had when I was pregnant (I have twins 3 and 1 baby after this plus 4 miscarriages previously). Also, during my pap two months ago they couldn't find my cervix until they used 4 tools and something called a snowman. During that visit we talked about the back to back c-sections (got pregnant 13 months after the twins) and the fact that I had a lot of scar tissue which took 1 hour and 15 minutes to complete. I also got my tubes tied and cut during that surgery. I felt my tubes cut for almost a year later and it recently went away. However, I have noticed huge changes in the amount of sticky substance produced during ovulation. It is almost like clear jelly!  During this time, I have also noted another change that includes spotting of redish/brown blood. These are all new symptoms for the past 6-7 months. Has anyone ever had a reading of 53 and what was the cause?  I have read so many things including that it could be nothing, endimitriosis, fibroids, menustration, cysts, cancer, etc.

[phanks53]

Thank you for everyone's posts. The radiology report came back and apparently I had a lot of bowel gas. My doctor has not had the time to call me back as I had to have the imaging center resend everything to him yesterday afternoon and then he had an emergency surgery. Needless to say, I don't understand everything in the report. The report says that the transvaginal ultrasound was suboptimal due to excessive bowel gas. My uterus is retroverted measuring 10.2x3.7x6.8cm. The endometiral canal is avascular but prominent at 15mm. There is a trace amount of fluid within the endocervical canal. The right ovary cannot be identified. The left ovary is partially obscured by overlying bowel gas. There is a simple left ovarian cyst measuring 2.0cm. Evaluation of blood flow to the ovary cannot be obtained due to overlying bowel gas. There is no free fluid evident.  The impression is as follows:

1.  Limited examination due to excessive bowel gas.
2.  The right ovary cannot be seen.
3.  Mildly prominent endometiral canal at 15mm but it is avascular.

I wish I understood what all of this means. I will report back once my doctor calls me today.

[crischef]

Hi,  One thing I noted about your explanation is the pain you were having and seemed to go away; and the change in your ovulation discharge.  Did you ever pursue any type of IVF treatment?  The reason why I am asking is because I am 36 and was doing IVF treatments with one clinic - then switched clinics because I kept telling them I had pain and they said it was "normal".  The new clinic did laproscopic surgery and found 7 areas of Borderline Ovarian tumors and cells.  Then after further surgery to remove these things; the pathology came back saying likely OC is some spots all starting as Borderline.  Now I have had the rt. ovary removed and doing chemo.  6 tmnts 21 days apart.  So my fertility options are now very limited.  I don't know what my CA 125 ever was because I don't think they tested it until I started the chemo.  My suggestion is keep pushing your docs for more testing.  Good luck!

[MinnieWM]

The CA-125 can be elevated by so many things in a pre-menopausal woman.  I'm sure the doctor was measuring; so, that she had a baseline to chart against in the future should swelling from ascites be suspected.  The transvaginal ultrasound will tell you a lot more, and I suspect that if the preliminary reading were suspicious, they would have contacted you already.

[milashka]

The CA-125 is a very poor screening test with a lot of false positives. Given several other symptoms you are having, I would push for all the tests needed to properly diagnose you. Insist, even if it's likely benign.