Guest guest Posted October 26, 2005 Report Share Posted October 26, 2005 CT and PET scans are normally stated as being accurate for 1cm size objects. Recent advancements in technology are now seeing objects in the 3-5 mm range (sometimes). A rising CEA can be present before a the cancer reaches a size it can be seen. Unfortunately in life CT and PET scans while great diagnostic tools are not good for your body so forgetting insurance you want to have enough scans but not too many scans. Research has also found that CEA rarely goes above 10 from benign causes. When it says rarely that means you can be the exception. Something as simple as an inflamation of the remaining colon due to a restricted passage can cause CEA elevation. I learned quickly that labs do make mistakes. Now I do all my lab work at Vanderbilt versus local. Today I drove one way 2.5 hours just to draw a blood sample. Too soon to panic. I am no doctor but I would be having a CEA at least every 2 weeks and a complete blood(which can provide clues on where to look) at least every 3-4 weeks. If nothing wild shows up in the blood you will probably have to wait 4-6 weeks for another scan. Not a whole lot of help here except to say it is still a chance of a benign cause and to insist on frequent CEA sample -blood samples only hurt insurance companies and not you Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted October 26, 2005 Report Share Posted October 26, 2005 From my readings, when CEA's start rising it can take up to 6 months before scans can pick it up or there is " clinical evidence of disease " . If it is in the abdomen, there is a fair chance that scans will not pick it up. I have read several sources that say that if CEA continues to rise and scans continue to be negative that a " look/see " is called for. There are a couple posting right now that only found their cancer and source for rising CEA upon surgery to look and they had peritoneal carcimosis??? (sp). MA Have you discussed this with your Dr. > > > Date: 2005/10/26 Wed PM 03:05:14 EDT > To: colon_cancer_support > Subject: CEAs still rising.............. > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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