A 19-year-old female asked:
what cea value conisdered a risk of rectal cancer stage 1 recurr. preoper the value is 2.2 and since two years its arround .7?
1 doctor answer

Dr. Carlos Encarnacion answered
35 years experience Medical Oncology
Be careful..: Do not put too much value on a blood test by itself. CEA of 3 or less is considered "normal". Smokers have higher CEAs; up to 5, maybe 10. Anything higher than that is suspicious but by no means diagnostic of recurrence. So called "tumor markers" sometimes go up in non malignant diseases or even for no detectable reason at all. Scans and sometimes biopsies are needed to confirm cancer. Best 2U!
Answered on Sep 29, 2017
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