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I have a question for any of you who have been through chemo. My husband finished 4 rounds of chemo on 2/8. At this time his tumor markers were not normal. HCG was 29, AFP was 27. We were told by Dr. Einhorn at this time that they would eiter continue to go down and normalize post chemo or go back up. If they go back up more chemo and a tandem transplant is needed if they normalize surveillance will continue. My question is for anyone who has been in this situation how long it took for the tumor markers to normalize. They have cotinued to go down - last week HCG 17 and AFP 22 but are not normal. He gets them weekly and we are trying to be patient but the waiting game is hard. Thanks for any input!
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Erin (caregiver)
Hubby Stage IIIC Diagnosed 10/27/05,
HCG 512,000 AFP 636 LDH 1012, I&O 10/28/05
1 x EP, 2 x VIP, then 2 x BEP (10/31/05-1/06)
Sterotactic Radiation to two brain tumors 12/05
Sterotactic Radiation to new brain tumor 4/4/06
Whole brain radiation 4/15 -5/18/06
Tandem High dose chemo and stem cell 6/5/06-7/31/06 - markers normalized
RPLND with 9cm x 24 cm abd mass removal 9/14/06 - Only teratoma and necrotic tissue removed
Currently on surveillance -
Hi Eb fun,
AFP has a half life of about 3 1/2 to 5 days meaning that if his AFP is at 22 now ---next week (if it follows a normal half life cycle) it should be 11 -followed by around 5.5 the next week etc. until it levels out at 6.1 or below-- If he can stay at below 6.1 he will be in good shape for surveillance...HCG level has a half life of around5-7 days so again if he follows a normal half-life process his HCG should be normal(less than 5) in the next couple of weeks.. The markers do have a tendency to take a little longer to lower once they start falling below 15 .... Best of luck to you both!!!!! DONMoffitt Cancer Institute
CANCER SUCKS
Diagnosed/Left I/O 9/18/2004--Non-Seminoma/Stage IIIC--3X B.E.P chemo--3X T.I.P. Salvage chemo---Abdominal [email protected] 34cmX 24.5cmX 17.5cm---4/19/2005 --RPLND/Left Kidney,8 1/2lb Abdominal tumor,42 nodes removed---7/16/2005 Remission/Surveillance---Severe Peripheral Neuropathy-- -
Good chance his levels could be back with-in normal range in 3-4 weeks!!!!Originally posted by Don
Moffitt Cancer Institute
CANCER SUCKS
Diagnosed/Left I/O 9/18/2004--Non-Seminoma/Stage IIIC--3X B.E.P chemo--3X T.I.P. Salvage chemo---Abdominal [email protected] 34cmX 24.5cmX 17.5cm---4/19/2005 --RPLND/Left Kidney,8 1/2lb Abdominal tumor,42 nodes removed---7/16/2005 Remission/Surveillance---Severe Peripheral Neuropathy--Comment
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