I am stage IV colon cancer with signet ring cell mets to peritonial
area. My main or source tumor (right side ascending 13 cm at cecum)
along with peritonium and omentum were removed 1 year ago. 1 of 13 lyph
nodes came back positive for cancer. I did OK on 1st line chemo of
folfox6 w/
avastin but eventually failed it. Have been on chemo break
since Sept. due to chemo toxicity issues. Liver enzyme level is still
195 though alt & ast are back within upper limits of normal range. CEA
has been exponentially rising all allong. at first by small increments
and now by approx 50% per month. (example CEA was 12 in oct. and was 18
in Nov.) No tumor activity has been found on any CT scans, MRIs or
ultrasounds. Yet CEA continues to rise. I have one oncologist that says
do nothing till we see a tumor and anther oncologist that says since my
CEA has responded gone down with surgery and chemo and has gone up
consistantly in the absence of chemo it appears to be a reliable marker
in my case. He says the CEA rise is most likely the signet ring cell
componant which will not show on a scan unless they clump. He suggsts
that we treat the CEA and not wait for a tumor to show on a scan. I have
to decide who is right.
In the meantime there is a node in the right retrocrural area of my lung
that started out in july at 1.06cm, 1.1cm in sept. and is now 1.26cm.
which converts to 10.6mm to 12.6mm or nearly 1/2 inch now. it has grown
by 2mm in 5 months. The docs reading the scans are calling it more or
less stable and saying the growth is insignificant. 2mm growth in 5
months seems significant to me. It seems to be mimicking my CEA IE:
started out with small amount of growth (1.06cm to 1.1cm) but then
started taking bigger jumps (1.1cm to 1,26cm) Is it possible this node
could be the source of the CEA growth? Should I look into it and can a
node in that area be successfully removed? Or is this as they say
insignifican? I have read that any node 1cm or larger is considered
cancerous.
Question about a lung node 
Linear Mode
