more stress with higher ca2729 count

[Pam P]

I wrote a couple weeks ago. I have bone mets. I was on navelbine/herceptin/zometa for 12 months. Since January have been on herceptin/zometa. 2 weeks ago I saw the onc. PET scan showed 'slightly' more activity in the bone mets. My onc. said I could hold off on chemo & monitor.
Since when I ended chemo in Jan. my ca2729 was 72. Then it spiked to 102. The last 3 times it's been 84-86. No this last one is up to 110. I'm trying not to panic and hope the next one will be down. BUT I'm so stressed over the fact that this could mean the herceptin alone is not working for me. I see the doc the next time, on 5/23.

[Cindy H.]

Please don't stress out, be good to your immune system. Herceptin doesn't work for me, either but I'm still here and still have lung mets. I've been off Herceptin for over a year and was so disappointed when my onc told me it wasn't working. I get scanned next week to see of the xeloda is working. Abraxane is out there and I'm crossing my fingers on Lapinitib. Where there's life, there's hope....

[Esther]

Pam, don't stress out. Herceptin alone is sometimes not enough to totally halt progression. But there are other options.

Are you Er+, Pr+?

There's always Xeloda, which tends to be fairly easy to tolerate for most people.

I have liver and bone mets, and my onc has stated that the bone mets are not as worrisome as the live mets.

I'm sure they will find a combination that will work for you. Hang in there!

[Pam P]

I am ER+ PR-, also inflammatory bc.

I know it doesn't help anything to stress and worry -- I just can't seem to keep it at bay.

[StephN]

Hi Pam -
First of all - do you get Zometa? This is a good drug that will help your bones. I have been taking it for over three years now.

I was curious about your question so asked the nurses at my cancer center today.
A couple of them said they had seen patients with consistently higher than normal CA27-29 that were actually stable with the counts varying a lot.
One woman that was mentioned has been in this state for about 2 years and takes only mild chemo to stay that way - did not get which chemo she gets, only that there are patients out there who are in your same boat who stabilize with high markers for long periods.

There is an assumption that if the disease is somewhat active (and we all this to some degree) that the markers will pick up the activity, and if the markers vary and do not ONLY go up, this is a sign that the body is working. Wait till a few more analyses before you get too worked up.