Wednesday, February 16, 2005

Tumor markers keep falling



Good news from the latest blood test. The tumor markers are falling! Alpha-Fetoprtotein (AFP) is marked in purple and should be looked at using the right side scale. It has fallen from a high of 11,600 down to 1,638 (still well above normal levels of 0-8 ng/ml). All in all a good sign that the chemo is doing its job. And as a plus, my beta-HCG levels (red markers, use the left side scale) have fallen from 460 down to 2, which means I'm no longer pregnant! (beta-HCG, in additional to being a TC tumor marker, is the hormone used more commonly to track pregnancy in pre-meonpausal women)

Cycle 2, week 1 continues...I have a CT scheduled for Feb. 28, after which we'll compare the before and after (chemo) films. Then we pack up the stuff and head to IU for a consultation.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hey! Great news! Impressive and encouraging. And...what a relief it must be to know that you are not pregnant. Whew.

Love,
Sheri

Andrew Molenda said...

Congrats on the tumor markers! I remember watching those numbers with lots of anxiety during my BEP regimen.

LiveStrong,

Andrew