tumor marker reading

Can anyone tell me what the reading is on a tumor marker? I mean, what's the lowest reading and the highest? I asked my onc last week and she said it real a "12" which she said was good. She was in a bad mood and I was too preoccupied with it to ask what's the best reading and the worst so I something to measure it by. Now it's bugging me and I won't see her for another few months. Thanks, Linda

Hi Linda,

I think 12 is a good number, from what I understand ca15-3 anything under 30 is considered normal and the ca27-29 38 and under I believe.

However If your last number was 3 or something lower than 12 I would wonder why it is elevated, that being said though there are plenty of benign conditions that can interfere with results, (cold, flu or some kind of infection, even being exposed to second hand smoke just before blood is drawn) so one # is not really that helpful it is better to evaluate these numbers every few months to see if there are steadily rising.
I wouldn't worry though, just ask for another test in a couple months. If you don't feel that your onc is caring, though I would for sure look into a new onc!! We are often too concerned about making waves or upsetting someone to really be our own advocates... I was guilty of this.. .but there comes a time where you just have to do what you think is best for you!!!! Any caring onc would understand this!
Take care
Tammy

I think that too many of us are too prone to try to interpret our blood results. There is a normal range for all readings and if it stays within 10% of normal, I wouldn't get too excited. As well, conclusions should never be interprted on there own, esp. liver profile where the interaction between the readinds, not the readings themselves, tell the storey.

For example, Alk. Phos. and ALK are very suseptable to higher reading if you have wine the day before the draw, if you are on neupogen, if you have a bone injury, etc.

Another example is: I used to get excited because Linda always seems to have high uric acid in conjunction with normal creatine; that was until I discovered that one of the by-products of cancer cell distruction is uric acid.

The key is to look for a pattern, interaction and DON't panic over isolated readings in the normal or high-normal area. A pattern = 3 or more readings.

regards,
Al

For CA 27/29 the normal range is 38 or less. Small changes mean nothing. I remember my first reading was 11 and 3 months later my reading was 16. I told my onco, "its going up". And he said no - you could take blood 3 times in one day and get readings that vary by 5-10 points. Like Al said, its the pattern and I always run between 7 and 18.

12 is a nice low number (but like me, don't freak if your next reading is 17 which is still a nice low number).

Warm regards

Becky

thanks ladies..... your knowledge on all this is incredible. I think I'd just like to hire any one of you for my onc! I have a much easier time talking with you! I have a good oncologist. She's just incredibly busy. WAY overbooked. But i am confiedent in her. One thing however is that I wish I was put on herceptin as I had one node positive. stage 2a er,pr + her2 +. I had TAC 6 cycles and rads. diagnosed 12/03 finished treatment 8/04. I hope I can still get herceptin. i hope my healthcare provider will cover it. i just enrolled with them after my cobra expired. thanks for all your input. much appreciated!

CA 15-3 under 30 is normal, I have always been under 30 and as low as 6, even with my skin and lymph reoccurences, so in a way it shows that I am not experiencing any organ or bone mets. I have had many arguments with pathology staff over these markors, arguing that there is no point in having them a week apart because they don't change that soon, I proved them wrong, mine was and is always a guide that something is happening, good and bad. At the moment I have been stable at 15 but still have a new primary BC in my remaining breast, not mets from the original BC.

Love & Hugs Lyn

GOOD OLD TUMOR MARKERS --my favorite soap box:

Personally, until you can compare the CA -15 or the CA 27/29 with the actual levels of serum her-2 trickling through YOUR veins, and compare these numbers over time, it is really hard to say...

For me, after countless testing and comparison, if my CA 27/29 is higher than 10 or 12, my serum her-2 is most likely going to be slightly elevated.

However, if my CA 27/29 is say, even only 20, it is NOT unusual to see my serum her -2 at 60, way out of either the less than 12.8 or less than 15 range...bottom line...it is your body, your life.

When I can keep the CA 27/29 between 5 and 10, the serum Her-2 is less than 15, usually something like 11 or 12.

In general though, if for nothing else, if they start steadily climbing, you can be 99 percent certain, you have something brewing and the sooner you get to it the better
Hope this helps...