Tumor Markers and CT Scan Results

I had a Herceptin treatment on Monday and they drew my blood.  Got my tumor marker results earlier this week:  the CEA is 44.3 (down two points from last time) and the CA15-3 is 29.2, down by 0.7 points from last time.

This is the first time that the CEA went DOWN in 18 months.  Yippee Skippy!  Yay!

The CA15-3 is below. Remember that anything 33 and under is "normal":

Sept 2007 - 23 U/mL
Jan 2008 - 31 U/mL
Mar 2008 - 36 U/mL
June 2008 - 23 U/mL (started radiation that month)
Aug 2008 - 18 U/mL (week of August 4th)
Sept 2008 - 14.5 U/mL YAAAAAAY!!!
Oct 1 2008 - 19.6 U/mL
Oct 31 2008 - 15.3 U/mL
Nov 28 2008 - 19.5 U/mL
Dec 30 2008 - 16.0 U/mL
Jan 22 2009 - 15.4 U/mL
Mar 2 2009 - 17.8 U/mL
Apr 8 2009 - 19.6 U/mL
May 5 2009 - 18.4 U/mL
June 4 2009 - 19.7 U/mL
July 2 2009 - 22.1 U/mL
Aug 3 2009 - 29.7 U/mL
August 31 2009 - 31.9 U/mL
Oct 3 2009 - 38.7 U/mL
Nov 2 2009 - 36.4 U/mL
Nov 30 2009 - 38.5 U/mL
Dec 28 2009 - 37.5 U/mL
Jan 25 2010 - 33.8 U/mL
Mar 8 2010 - 30.9 U/mL
Apr 22 2010 - 30.0 U/mL
Jun 7 2010 - 29.9 U/mL
Jul 19 2010 - 29.2 U/mL

And the CEA numbers. Anything 3.8 and under is "normal".

CEA
1/2008 - 1.2 ng/mL
3/2008 - 0.9 ng/mL
6/2008 - 1.0 ng/mL
8/2008 - 1.1 ng/mL (need to double check this number, but it was in that 0.9 to 1.2 range)
9/2008 - 0.5 ng/mL
10/2008 - 0.9 ng/mL
10/31/2008 - 1.2 ng/mL
11/28/2008 - 1.2 ng/mL
12/30/2008 - 1.1 ng/mL
3/2/2009 - 1.4 ng/mL
4/8/2009 - 1.6 ng/mL
5/5/2009 - 1.9 ng/mL
6/4/2009 - 3.0 ng/mL
7/2/2009 - 3.7 ng/mL
8/3/2009 - 4.2 ng/mL
8/31/2009 - 5.1 ng/mL
10/2/2009 - 5.7 ng/mL (or was it 5.8?)
11/2/2009 - 7.6 ng/mL
11/30/2009 - 10.5 ng/mL
12/28/2009 - 13.2 ng/mL
3/8/2010 - 22.9 ng/mL
4/22/2010 - 28.9 ng/mL
6/7/2010 - 46.3 ng/mL
7/19/2010 - 44.3 ng/mL

As I mentioned in my last post, Dr. S. from UW stated that what they are seeing is that the t-cell infusions take a little longer to work against the cancer, so I should give it a couple of months.  I personally think it's good news that it went down.

As for my CT scan, the largest of the tumors in my left lung grew by about 0.4 cm in 6 weeks.  Everything else is roughly the same as the time before.  There was a suspicion of a "subtle change" in my liver, but they suggested a more detailed scan or MRI in 3-6 months.  I'm not going to worry about that one just yet and just allow the time for the t-cells to work.

Dr. S from UW also said that CT scans tend to show inflammation.  So, if there is growth seen in the tumors on the CT, it might be due more to inflammation than to more active cancer activity.  Remember that when t-cells are doing their work, it is an inflammatory response.  (Think about when you have a cold and your lymph nodes in your neck get swollen - they are inflamed.  That's the t-cells working.)

My interpretation of the growth of the tumor (or tumors) in the left lung is that there is some inflammation going on there and the t-cells are doing their job on those tumors. 

That's my story and I'm sticking to it!