Forum Discussion

Sam09's avatar
Sam09
Member
7 years ago

Can stress cause ca15 tumor markers to rise

Hi ladies 
I have been going along wonderfully nice low tumor markers each 3 weekly bloods . And feeling so healthy and at present really fit however in the last weeks something terrible happened in my life causing great stress and today to my great dismay my tumor markers have risen much higher suddenly. Weirdly each time which has been twice on my journey that my tumor markers have risen I also had a huge spike in my cholesterol level in which is strange as I'm a vegetarian who is fanatical about organic fresh healthy food that goes into my body . Back on the stress trail yet again back to ct scan and mri land does any one else have the higher cholesterol with their risen ca15 I mean they only went from 16 to 23 but that's a big rise for my predictable tm markers. Should I panic? 
tumour-markers
  • brightspace's avatar
    brightspace
    Member
    7 years ago
    Hi Sam
    Not to stress out yours seems ok
    .yes they can rise but this is not excessive..Ca15 markers for me have been been consistent between 21 to 23 with one drop to 13.for twoyears since mbc diagnosed...the  drop .put this down to lower protein and less stress as was on a small rivercruise in asia . I do take a low dose satin so i have not had a rise on chol due to taking 
    AI drug letrozle
  • Zoffiel's avatar
    Zoffiel
    Member
    7 years ago
    Hi @Sam09 I wouldn't be surprised if stress has an effect on the markers. Tumour markers, which measure certain proteins, are notoriously unreliable and are not used as commonly as they were years ago. They can be helpful for people on certain cancer treatments, but there are many things apart from cancer which make them fluctuate.