When do you have your next appointment? Some medications can increase the level of creatinine on lab tests without actually hurting the kidneys. It does mention about smoking being a factor to raise a CEA level. Diabetes, smoking, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and colonic polyps were considered as causes of false elevation. My oncologist says that they are taught to only watch CEA when it gets above normal. This does help make me feel better. All of my other blood and urine numbers came out within a normal range. What questions or next steps would be reasonable to ask her? False-positive CEA elevations have been reported to occur in smokers and in patients with nonmalignant conditions, including gastrointestinal disease (eg, inflammatory bowel disease, pancreatitis, liver disease, diverticulitis, hepatitis, peptic ulcers, biliary obstruction, cirrhosis), lung disease (eg, chronic Categories Oncologist. I was diagnosed with Stage 4 colon cancer which had metastized to my liver on October 2016. It means a protein with a lot of sugars added to it by normal or cancerous cells. Healthy cells also may make tumor markers in very low levels. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. The opposite is also true. How Stress Raises Cholesterol. They insert the needle or syringe into your chest or lower back. A retest was ordered to make sure that number was real.came back at 11. What is inflammation What are the symptoms and signs of inflammation? doi: 10.1097/01.cad.0000398728.45590.11. CEA tests of other body fluids usually take 30 minutes or less. The results of my CT scan were good. These levels are considered abnormal. OTOH the persistent high readings put us in the group with sibstantially increased odds of recurrence. Elevated levels of CEA occur when the CEA is higher than 3 ng/mL. I've had Stage IIa with a resection of the ascending and part of transverse colon, all lymph nodes (22) were clean. Spinal cord (cerebrospinal fluid or CSF). 2004;43(5):495-8. doi: 10.1080/02841860410032380. Fast forward to my recent check up just over a month ago. 2006 Nov 20;24(33):5313-27. Second, I'm just getting over having a bacterial infection as a side effect of the 2nd surgery. Ok. However your CEA level goes up and down over time, just like your blood sugar level, blood pressure and heart rate. I hope you can get some rest and time to restore yourself now. The carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) test measures the level of CEA in the blood. Retest done to make sure no lab error. It is elevated in more than 90% cases of colon and pancreatic cancer, 70% cases of non-small cell lung cancer, and 50% cases of breast cancer. Since they say I am young (cannot believe mid 50s is young ), pretty active and healthy (other than this one little issue ) they tell me that the 10% is not what they feel is my prognosis. Many healthy people have normal level of tumor makers, which is called normal range, reference range or reference interval on lab reports. Please enable it to take advantage of the complete set of features! A doctor will interpret the results of the test. It is a blood test that measures the levels of carcinoembryonic antigen, whose levels are not affected by the intake of food. Analytical cookies are used to understand how visitors interact with the website. This test isn't an accurate way to screen for it because many other diseases can cause the levels of this protein to rise . (I freaked out when my CEA went up to 0.9 - my onc calmed me down. On it's own, a 3.4 wouldn't get anyone excited. Your doctor will be able to give you a fuller picture of what is going on. Epub 2020 Sep 8. And the stats have other factors. I am really getting worried!! Epub 2012 Jan 12. Thanks for your help. Bethesda, MD 20894, Web Policies What can you do about the kink in the intestine causing constipation and pain? From medline.com, here is an article about CEA and when it may be useful https://www.healthline.com/health/cea official website and that any information you provide is encrypted Thanks for telling us about the results of the CT scan. I wish all the best and pray for all. Welcome to the forums, sorry you have to be here, but this is a good place with good people. As far as my statement about doctors and medical scientist not knowing the correlations between the grade of tumor cells and CEA, I still believe this. The doctor had my blood sent to the Mayo clinic for testing and genetic screening. Your email address will not be published. Alkaline phosphatase. People with many types of cancers can have levels that are higher than 3 ng/mL. Providers generally conduct a physical exam and imaging to determine this. Research has linked blood CEA levels greater than 3.8 units per milliliter (ml) with an increased risk of the ovarian tumor being . Key takeaways: A high creatinine level on a blood test can be a sign of decreased kidney function or kidney disease. And we don't worry about CEA.). Can stress raise CEA levels? That may change the odds a bit. A retrospective study finding a 49% false-positive of carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) testing among patients with a history of resected colorectal cancer, "suggests that confirmation of an ongoing increase in CEA level should be universal practice before an extensive workup is initiated," Anya Litvak, MD, and colleagues from Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC) reported in the . So we're all scratching our heads wondering what is going on. If you have CEA levels this high and you also have symptoms of cancer, it strongly suggests the cancer has not been removed successfully after treatment. I'm sorry to hear about the lung mets, Bill. Keywords: Had a CEA of 2.89 in Feb and then in May it was 4.8, but as I found out, a different lab with a different method, so even though I can't compare the two - I am trying to deal with the stress. The following non-cancer conditions can result in increased CEA levels: Certain people exposed to therapeutics that are fully or partially derived from animals like monoclonal antibodies also have elevated CEA levels. Should I go get a colonoscopy?? That would be a simple first step. The most common elevated liver enzymes found in bloodstreams are: Alanine transaminase. The recurrence of colorectal polyps was significantly associated with increased CEA and CA19-9 levels. Yes, CEA can increase due to many non-cancer factors including just being stressed/run-down. Our findings clearly indicated that immobilization stress results in enhanced serum CEA level whether the stress is acute or chronic. Probably not until next week bc my doctor will be out of the office the rest of the week. 16.7. Disclaimer. The stats are older, with a few years behind where current techniques and treaments are. At that time they removed 1/3 of my colon. I am going to see my GP in an hour. Mine hadnt gone over 3 until I had the remaining colon removed. Well now since i last posted my CEA went to 0.7 So on day of surgery it was 1.5, after surgery <.3, then .5, .6 and now 8 months after surgery it is .7! Oxaliplatin is a platinum-based chemotherapy that is an integral part of several regimens for colorectal cancer. ), Betsy (who was diagnosed Stage 4 in 2005 and is still here and off chemo), I finally got down to a 1.8 after the last surgery, then it went to 2, then 2.2, then 2.6, it just kept bumping up. We did blood screening through the Mayo clinic and they came back that I had a predisposition for polyposis. Your healthcare provider will tell you how to prepare for a CEA test. We did colonoscopies for almost 7 years and my gastroenterologist decided that we should remove the remainder of the colon to eliminate any further polyps. As with all tumor markers, trend over time is the more important factor than any single test. Hello Ginger, I wish you all the best and negative cancer findings! CEA levels normally become very low or disappear after birth. She also has melanoma and perhaps she can offer some suggestions. Providers also use CEA along with other tests as they diagnose, treat and follow-up on a range of cancers, including bladder, breast, lung, ovarian and thyroid cancer. The rest was benign. Had a lymphedectomy(?) Nothing was found during the colonoscopy and my GI doc was about to complete the exam. My CEA level on 7/11 was 5.1. Im tagging a few other members who may also have experience with fluctuating CEA levels. Consistent with our finding, there are reports suggesting that stress can increase tumor growth and tumor marker expression. I have had my mammogram done and it is clear, I dont have any more colon so it cant be colon cancer, I had a hysterectomy when I was in my 20s so that rules out ovarian cancer. The Onc wasn't worried, but then it's not his test score, so I was, like you, nervous until the Dec. test, when it finally bumped down to 2 again. The normal range for CEA in an adult non-smoker is <2.5 ng/ml and for a smoker <5.0 ng/ml. A CA 125 test isn't accurate enough to use for ovarian cancer screening in general because many conditions can increase the level of this protein. Also, other things going on in the body can influence the CEA results. Levels of CEA higher than 20 ng/mL are considered very high. At onset i had Cea level of >4000 ng/ml. CEA is sometimes called a tumor marker or tumor antigen. Confirmation of the exact benign cause of CA 19-9 elevation has a very important clinical value in that anxiety and unnecessary follow-up tests can be eliminated in patients. On 12/20/2016 erbitux was added as targeted therapy drug for liver tumors. Most healthy people have levels below this amount. Results: Primary resection was associated with significant CEA decline in patients with CRC but not in those with breast cancer. My doctors are not worried, but my next colonoscopy will be a year from my surgery date. Compared to the median level of 26.8 ng/mL, patients with CEA levels of >69 ng/mL were at a significantly elevated risk for progression. I know that I am in a good place as far as cancer goes and I feel very lucky to be here. Hung there for a couple of tests. Confirmation of CEA elevation in this range before initiating imaging studies may be appropriate. Would you mind me asking what stage your colon cancer was? Depending on what the next reading says, my CRC surgeon is talking about doing exploratory surgery to see if there's something in my abdomen that isn't being picked up by scans. I understand completely that when you have had cancer once it is hard to not think that it will reoccur. I believe this is called cell apoptosis (sp?). Drink more water? They look good to me. I don't think your CEA's are anything to worry about. Other than the appendicial cancer caught last year considered a new primary, I was thinking when I past 3 years I could start seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. The normal range is 0 to 2.5 ng/mL (0 to 2.5 g/L). Everyone is born with high levels of this protein. "When under constant stress, you have persistent high levels in cortisol and other stress hormones. As you probably already have researched, increasingly CEA levels can mean many things. How long does it take for CEA to go down? Doctors don't use the CEA test to make a first-time diagnosis of cancer. Heres some info from the American Association for Clinical Chemistry. The CA 27.29 blood test can create false positives for a number of different reasons. Carcinoembryonic Antigen, also called CEA, is a protein that may be elevated in many colorectal cancer patients and is detected in the blood. So now I wait another couple of weeks to have my CEA retested. I have mets to only my bones and I have been on Femara and Xgeva for almost 2 years. The only thing they found was a kink in my intestine which could cause some problems with constipation and stomach pain. Conditions such as smoking infection pregnancy and various inflammatory diseases can all cause an increase in CEA levels.The normal range for CEA levels is 0-5 ng/mL. Cleveland Clinics Robert J. Tomsich Pathology & Laboratory Medicine Institute touches virtually every patient at Cleveland Clinic and thousands of patients across the world. Can stress raise CEA levels?