Hi! i am new in this forum, please excuse my poor english, I am from Colombia, South America. I was diagnosed with breast cancer stage 3 on 2018. One year ago (2024), cancer returned to my cervical and mediatsinal lymph nodes… so now, I am a stage 4 woman. I am dealing with tumoral markers behavior… at the begining of treatment, ca 15.3 was on 50. Next month it started to decresed very slowly. Suddenly, few months later, it get down almost to a normal level, but next month (my doctor makes ca15.3 exam every month) the level duplicates (it was on september 2024), and since then, every month it increase 6 o 7 points … on december 2024, i had my periodic ct scans, i thought that with the increasing behavior of the tumor marker, it will show new tumors… but unexpecting that, the mediastinal lymph nodes were gone… the cervical ones are still there, they are stable. Yesterday, i recived ca 15.3 results for my january laboratory exams, ad it shows more increment on ca 15.3 results (its on 78)… I have on february, new ct scans, but for now, I am a little nervous and crazy about the “crazy” behavior of that tumor marker . Can you please share something about that topic on your experience? Thank you so much!!
Bienvenidos al foro @colombianwarrior
I’m so sorry that you find yourself here, but I’m glad that you’ve reached out. The forum is full of kind people and I hope you find the support you’re looking for. It’s completely understandable to feel nervous when there is so much unknown.
We have some information on our website about dealing with stress and anxiety that you may find useful: Stress and anxiety after a breast cancer diagnosis | Breast Cancer Now.
Just so you know, our clinical advice and the support provided by our nurses is specific to the UK as health systems differ around the world. We are lucky to have many international members of the forum though, and I hope that someone is able to share their experience with you.
Sending our warmest,
Lucy
I’m sorry to hear that you find yourself as part of the group. I have had metastatic breast cancer since June 2020.
In England I don’t think it is that common to look too much at the cancer markers as I think they can give strange results, what does your oncologist say?
Hi
I was diagnosed with stage 4 in Dec23, 10 years after my primary. I have mets in my spine, pelvis and possibly a couple of tiny marks on my liver. My ca15.3 was 370 on diagnosis which fell steadily to 112 by last summer then to my horror, it started to creep up to 133 over 3 months. My oncologist said would scan in December as planned and treatment would only be changed if scan showed change.
Her advice is that all sorts of things can affect it such as inflammation in the body. I had COVID and a separate infection which put me in hospital during this time which we think, prolonged the ca15.3 blip. It then started to fall again to 107 but last blood test, it was up a few points.
I trust my oncologist’s view that it’s a useful guide but only when taken alongside all of the indicators. On its own, it shouldn’t dictate treatment. So although she gives me the number each month, I am getting better at not worrying too much when it isn’t going down. Xx