What is a very high CEA level?
What is a very high CEA level?
The normal range for CEA is 0 to 2.5 nanograms per milliliter of blood (ng/mL). If CEA levels remain elevated during treatment, your treatment may not have been as successful as hoped. Anything greater than 10 ng/mL suggests extensive disease, and levels greater than 20 ng/mL suggest the cancer may be spreading.
What does a CEA level of 300 mean?
A CEA level of 300 is above the normal reference range, but I’m afraid I can’t put this into context. This would probably depend on whether the level was going up or down, but it may not shed any additional light on what is already known about someone’s situation. Please give us a call if you want a chat.
What is a high CEA level for Stage 4 colon cancer?
Conclusions Patients with stage IV colon and rectal cancer with a CEA level greater than or equal to 275 ng/mL and an ALB level less than 2.7g/dL had a significantly shorter survival time.
How high is CEA in colon cancer?
A CEA value of greater than 8 ng/ml was highly suggestive of residual disease or recurrence, even when no clinical evidence was present. Approximately 90% of the patients dying from colorectal cancer showed an increase in CEA to greater than 8 ng/ml during the course of the disease.
How long does it take for CEA to go down?
Most healthy people have CEA levels below the 2.5 ng/ml. CEA levels generally return to normal between one and four months after a cancer has been successfully removed.
Can CEA levels go up and down?
Serum CEA levels fluctuate over time in healthy individuals, and the intraindividual variation has been reported to be about 30% [19].
What does a CEA level of 5 mean?
A normal result is less than 5 nanograms per milliliter. Results might vary between labs. A higher-than-normal CEA level that increases over time might signal that your cancer has grown or has come back after treatment. But high levels of CEA do not always mean you have cancer.
Is a CEA of 9 high?
A high CEA level was defined as a level exceeding 5 ng/ml and a high CA19-9 level was defined as a level exceeding 37 U/ml.
Does a high CEA always mean cancer?
A higher-than-normal CEA level that increases over time might signal that your cancer has grown or has come back after treatment. But high levels of CEA do not always mean you have cancer. These other conditions can also increase levels: Breast cysts.
Why did my CEA go up?
A high level of CEA can be a sign of certain types of cancers. These include cancers of the colon and rectum, prostate, ovary, lung, thyroid, or liver. High CEA levels may also be a sign of some noncancerous conditions, such as cirrhosis, noncancerous breast disease, and emphysema.
What does CEA mean in a blood test?
A CEA test measures the level of carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) in your blood or other body fluid. As a type of tumor marker, CEA is an indicator of whether cancer is growing and spreading or diminishing with treatment.
What does a high CEA level mean?
A CEA (carcinoembryonic antigen) test measures the level of CEA in your blood or other body fluids. High levels can be a sign of cancer. The test is most often used to see if cancer treatment is effective and whether cancer has spread. Learn more.
What is a normal CEA level for cancer?
Special machines will check it for cancer. A normal result is less than 5 nanograms per milliliter. Results might vary between labs. A higher-than-normal CEA level that increases over time might signal that your cancer has grown or has come back after treatment. But high levels of CEA do not always mean you have cancer.
What are the limitations of the CEA test?
The test has limitations in that not all cancers (especially early stage cancers) have elevated levels, and false positives may occur, as many benign conditions may cause elevations in CEA. How often the test is done depends on many factors, but it is usually the change in CEA over time (serial CEA levels) that is most helpful.