CA 125 and its significance post surgery.

[msuspartan]

Hi All, looking for some guidance on Mom's situation. Little history is that October 2019, she had symptoms of ascites, which was confirmed it was cancerous. Her CA-125 level was 112000, yeah thats scary. She took 6 rounds of chemo followed with cytoreductive and HIPEC surgery, which was done 3 months back. Her latest reading on CA-125 is 297.From her starting numbers, this is a huge reduction but it is still high. Like your input on how we should interpret it and what course we chose. She cannot take more chemo at this time as her creatinine is elevated too. Need your guidance and thanks so much.

Regards

Rahul

[Katmal-UK]

Hi

Have you discussed this with your mums Oncologist? That would really be your first starting point. Maybe ask about a trial if it's something you think your mum would be willing to undertake? Best wishes . Kathy xx

[msuspartan in reply to Katmal-UK]

Thats our next step. Just want to get some insight from the community here. Thanks for reply.

[Lyndy]

Don’t forget that the surgery itself can cause inflammation which means the ca125 may rise or seem high. Also they look for a trend .... so a trend downwards would be good to focus on. Please chat to her and her oncologist about how they are interpreting this and try not to worry xx

[msuspartan in reply to Lyndy]

Thanks..Lyndy. This is a good insight. Lets see what her onco says. I hope you are doing well.

Regards

Rahul

[Devastated100]

Hi Msuspartan,

My Mil has only just started chemo so I don’t have much advice.

I’ve recently found Dr Nasha Winters, the metabolic approach. It might be helpful if your Mum can’t cope with chemo at the moment x

[msuspartan in reply to Devastated100]

Please focus on her nutrition and gut health during chemo. We gave kefir drink to my mom, she tolerated chemo very well. Another potent thing, I come across is Carrot Juice. There is book on it on Amazon. Curing cancer with carrots. Please check that out. Wishing her all the best.

[Devastated100 in reply to msuspartan]

Thank you! I’m delving into the world of nutrition right now after the dietitian at the hospital recommending puddings and ensure drinks to get more calories in to her 🤦🏻‍♀️ We’re going for the Warburg effect. I’ve just bought a cold press juicer and I’m making some nutritious juices too!

Dr winters is a stage 4 ovarian cancer Survivor, she was diagnosed at 19, so far gone that they couldn’t offer treatment. Its a really interesting book with some great, scientific advice.

Lots of love to your mum and you x

[delia2]

Hi. Has she had a recent scan? Usually they do one after treatment. You could ask for one. But I’m guessing she can’t have contrast if her creatinine is high. It is good to have a break after frontline to build one’s strength.

[msuspartan in reply to delia2]

Thanks, yet to do her scan. Will be talking to onco next week and will go from there.

[Superkim]

Hello,

Everyone is different and the CA125 number is more significant for some than others. Mine was at 24 when I was diagnosed with stage 3. So you can't go by the number alone. For me, there are 3 things that determine a potential problem (a dramatic jump in numbers (relative to my history), change or onset of symptoms, and changes in tumor activity or fluid on the CT scan. TheCA125 alone simply isn't enough to draw a conclusion.

Make sure you are writing all of your questions down and discussing them with the oncologist. We ladies of this site can give you our opinions and stories, but at the end of the day, they are just that. Please make sure you are speaking openly and frankly with the doctors.

hugs,

Kim

[msuspartan in reply to Superkim]

Thank you Kim for taking time to reply. This is a great insight and suggestions. I agree with your interpretation. Two yrs back, my mom had CA at 125 and onco could not detect, although that probably was a miss. Her numbers at that time did not relate to any tumor presence. Thanks again and wishing you well.