• Registered: Thu, 01 Sep 2011
  • Posts: 11

Topic: CA 19-9 increasing

hello everyone. My dad had  a klatskin's tumour and was resected last August. He had  chemotherapy gem/cis (4 cycles) and radiation therapy. He couldn't tolerate xeloda, so he did radiotherapy alone.  His  CA 19-9 before chemo were 140 and  before radiotherapy they dropped to 33.

A month ago he finished his radiotherapy treatment and now his CA 19-9 have risen to 98. I've read that its common to have increased levels of CA 19-9 after radiation, but for how long after treatments it is expected to have high levels of CA 19-9?

  • Registered: Fri, 15 Oct 2010
  • Posts: 1,735

Re: CA 19-9 increasing

Hi,
Sorry, I don't know the answer.
CA19-9 is not a very  reliable  test to judge the outcome of the treatment,CT scan does a much better job on that.
Residual effect after radiation could raise the result of CA19-9 ,and that is not unusual,; for how long ,I thinks it depends on how large the area that is being treated and the health status of the patient.
God bless.

Please know that my personal opinion is not intended nor implied to be a substitute for professional medical advice. If  provided, information are for educational purposes.Consult doctor is a MUST for changing of treatment plans.
  • Registered: Thu, 01 Sep 2011
  • Posts: 11

Re: CA 19-9 increasing

Thank you very much.