Re Chris/tumour marker tests

[Guest guest]

Hello there,

You are right! As I said to , my gastro and my panc

specialist have told me right from the start that these tests are

not reliable. I know my specialist has only arranged the test to

make me feel a bit better, as I happen to have a high cancer risk

because of my particular sort of hereditary pancreatitis. He has

explained that my results could well be abnormal anyway and would

certainly not lead him to come to any conclusions. As you say, CA 19-

9 is not accurate. A CT scan is O.K. but still not 100% accurate.

If monitoring for pancreatic cancer was genuinely possible for me,

neither my gastro nor panc specialist would have even referred to TP

as one option to be considered in my situation! Nobody actually

WANTS to do a TP!!

BTW, I can only speak about my particular case; I have extensive

calcifications throughout the pancreas. It may be that cancer

monitoring can be more accurate in other types of cases; I just

don't know. Even ERCP would not be reliable in a badly calcified

pancreas.

Just another difficulty!! I'm glad about the outcome in your

husband's case and sorry about the worry you went through.

Best wishes,

Fliss