Her2 Serum/Tumor Marker question

[Kim in CA]

Hi Everyone,

I can't believe it, but in my excitement over the good news on my brain met, I completely forgot to ask my doc about getting the Her2 Serum test done at my last visit this week! I have already been getting my Tumor markers checked every 3 weeks when I get my Herceptin and have kept a chart so I can watch for any patterns. My Dr. always runs the CA15-3 and CEA tests. I was just wondering why some of you get the CA 27/29 instead of the CA15-3?


My tumor markers have always been a pretty accurate gauge of whats going on with me so far, but I'm just curious if the other test would be better. My CA 15-3 seems to stay around the 17-21 range, with an occasional spike to about 25(which it is doing right now). The normal range is from 0-31. My doc said that if my markers ever got down into the single digits, and stayed there for a long time, he would be comfortable letting me go off the Herceptin. They have never been in the single digits since we started testing them in 1997, so it doesn't look like I will ever get there.

Anyway, I'd value your input on this and appologize if this topic has already been discussed.

Best Regards, Kim in CA