Raised CAN levels.

[Mrbojangles]

Hi,

Anyone been told this before.?

IPF diagnosed in February but recent blood tests have shown up raised C-CAN levels and further tests now required.

As an avid Googler this may point to Vasculitis which is a new one on me.

Any advice or guidance would be very much appreciated.

Stay safe 👍

[Hidden]

I don't know the C-CAN. Is this a UK blood test abbreviation?

C Reactive levels can be something and nothing.

If you have the complete list of your results, check to see which area of testing this comes under then you may be able to find something further.

ada.com/blood-test-results/...

labtestsonline.org.uk/condi...

Perhaps ask your doctor for further clarity.

Hope pending test results prove to be ok.

Best wishes

[Mrbojangles in reply to Hidden]

Thanks BKin.. typo on my part..

ANCA.

Autoantibodies apparently.

[Hidden]

So, on its own, a positive ANCA actually means very little. There are a fairly wide range of conditions that can lead to a positive (or false positive) result, including most autoimmune conditions such as rheumatoid arthritis, lupus (SLE), and forms of inflammatory bowel disease such as ulcerative colitis and Crohns. It’s recognised now that the level of ANCA detected is actually almost as important as the presence of it to help distinguish between patients likely to have vasculitis, and why vasculitis is still a clinical diagnosis based on tests and symptoms in combination rather than purely a positive ANCA result. A small percentage of people have a positive test without any underlying disease being found at all. I read up on it when we were looking to see if the child potentially had lupus or mastocytosis and they ran both ANCA and ANA as part of that: interestingly, I do recall there was at least one paper stating that a small percentage of IPF patients also had a positive ANCA either at diagnosis or slightly further down the line that didn’t develop into anything else. I’ll see if I can find it again if you’re interested, but a google for IPF and positive ANCA might turn it up? Bottom line, though, is wait and see what if anything else turns up: the first step with any positive autoantibody test is usually to break the test down further and look for other specific markers. It’s a clue in the puzzle, rather than being definitive for anything, and can occasionally turn out to be nothing at all.

[Mrbojangles in reply to Hidden]

Thank you Charlie, most helpful.