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I've been told it's normal.
Mine jumped from 15.3 after surgery (which was a drop from 28.1 before surgery), then jumped all the way to 35.8 after my first chemo round. They varied between 30-35 for the rest of chemo.
I just finished my chemo last month, so don't know yet what my markers will be while off of chemo, but I was concerned about the increase. However, between talking to people on these and other boards, and talking to the onc, I was assured that a rise in tumor markers during chemo was not at all unusual. It can signify the tumor breaking down, or it can be a reaction to inflammation elsewhere in the body.
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Mother/daughter bc patients (should have signed up for spa treatments instead of chemo! Who knew?)
Mom:
dx 2002 age 62
Stage IIIB, triple positive
FACx6, tamoxifen
2004 Stage IV, started Herceptin
mets to pleura, lungs, bone
tried Arimedex, Faslodex, Zometa, Navelbine, Taxol, Taxotere, Gemzar, Carboplatin, Abraxane, Xeloda
June 2007 new mets to nodes and pericardiam
Switched from Xeloda/Herceptin to Xeloda/Tykerb
September 2007 Failed X/T. Switched back to Xeloda/Herceptin, added Gemzar
Jan 2008 Taxol/Tykerb
Feb 2008 Tykerb as a single agent
Me:
dx 2007 age 38
Stage IIA pleomorphic ILC ER/PR + HER2 -
FACx6, tamoxifen
Mom to 2, ages 6 and 9
Trying to find a new hobby besides going to the cancer center.
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