HER2 Support Group Forums - View Single Post

vqtilley · 05-10-2015, 05:26 AM

Sympathies to you in watching this worrying indicator. My doctors aren't tracking TMs either so like Mtngrl I'm exempt from the anxiety. (One less thing to obsess about!) Otherwise, reading about the correlation of CA 15.3 with progression I can see why you're worried, but it does seem that, without some other indication of trouble, such as imaging, there doesn't seem much you can do so it might be best to sit back for now and assume the Kadcyla is working. Also, not to take away from your monitoring this important tumor marker, I did find one slightly old article mentioning multiple causes of non-cancerous ("false") elevated CA 15.3 levels (the emphasis here is on hypothyroidism) which might be worth a look:
https://www.researchgate.net/profile...bddcc99a8a.pdf
It mentions several conditions that can cause elevated CA 15.3 and closes with this: "In conclusion, elevation of CA 15-3 constitutes a sign of alarm in patients under follow-up for breast cancer and usually leads to an extensive and unnecessary search for relapse. Since its sensitivity and specificity are not 100%, we have to rule out other conditions causing false elevations, and hypothyroidism is one of them. In our opinion, clinical symptoms of thyroid dysfunction must be investigated and thyroid hormones evaluated together with the other causes of false elevation of serum CA 15-3 before performing more aggressive studies for detecting relapse in breast cancer patients. Routine determination of CA 15-3 is not recommended in the follow-up of breast cancer patients."

05-10-2015, 05:26 AM	#29
vqtilley Member Join Date: Mar 2015 Posts: 13	Re: Kadcyla Side Effects Sympathies to you in watching this worrying indicator. My doctors aren't tracking TMs either so like Mtngrl I'm exempt from the anxiety. (One less thing to obsess about!) Otherwise, reading about the correlation of CA 15.3 with progression I can see why you're worried, but it does seem that, without some other indication of trouble, such as imaging, there doesn't seem much you can do so it might be best to sit back for now and assume the Kadcyla is working. Also, not to take away from your monitoring this important tumor marker, I did find one slightly old article mentioning multiple causes of non-cancerous ("false") elevated CA 15.3 levels (the emphasis here is on hypothyroidism) which might be worth a look: https://www.researchgate.net/profile...bddcc99a8a.pdf It mentions several conditions that can cause elevated CA 15.3 and closes with this: "In conclusion, elevation of CA 15-3 constitutes a sign of alarm in patients under follow-up for breast cancer and usually leads to an extensive and unnecessary search for relapse. Since its sensitivity and specificity are not 100%, we have to rule out other conditions causing false elevations, and hypothyroidism is one of them. In our opinion, clinical symptoms of thyroid dysfunction must be investigated and thyroid hormones evaluated together with the other causes of false elevation of serum CA 15-3 before performing more aggressive studies for detecting relapse in breast cancer patients. Routine determination of CA 15-3 is not recommended in the follow-up of breast cancer patients." __________________ Feb 2012: diagnosed with 1 cm lesion rt breast, DCIS left breast, Stage IV ER+/HER2+ Apr 2012: bilateral partial excisions; confirmed met to left proximal femur, long gamma nail inserted to stabilize femur: May 2012: radiation to femur: chemo with Trastuzumab + taxane. July 2012 thru Mar 2015: started maintenance regime Herceptin+Arimidex+Denosumab, NED May 2014: recurrence in right acetabulum: 15 fractions radiation Jan 2015: lesion in left cerebellum: resection & gamma knife treatment Mar 2015: major general progression; small mets confirmed in rt axilla, rt breast, T7 vertebra, possible met as isolated spiculated pulmonary nodule left lung[LIST][]27 Mar 2015: start Kadcyla, discontinue aromotase inhibitors; within two weeks axilla/rt breast lesions are shrinking noticeably[]18 April: resume letrozole []May: all lesions disappeared or dormant[]June - discontinue Kadcyla due to low platelets[*]Aug & Nov 2015 MRI brain/spinal scans all negative for CNS disease: no recurrence to date Fall 2015 - stereotactic radiation to lingering T3 lesion to relieve pain; 90% effective within weeks July 2019 - discontinued Letrozole due to side effects April 2020 - short course steretactic radiation to 2 cm lesion in upper left lung; subsequent scan finds it reduced Mar 2021 - 6.5 cm mass found in left lung; FISH finds it is PR-, ER- and strongly HER2+. 16 April 2021 - Resume Kadcyla.