What are Normal AFP markers?

[Margaret]

After reading a post yesterday from Fed (yes, one of the smartest men on the planet ) I got confused about what number is considered normal range for AFP. Given that I try and offer advice to others, this is not something I want to be wrong about.

We had all our blood work done at Mayo Clinic and Normal is 5.9 or less for AFP. My cancer center, called to confirm, is also 5.9 or less. Anything above is considered out of normal range. My paperwork from SK said that if the AFP is over 5.9 post RPLND surgery it was "above normal range/limits" and would reccomend 2 more rounds of chemo post RPLND.

I was reading the post by Fed who said that normal range was 7.5 or less. So I went home, pulled all our records from Sloan, Mayo and our cancer center and the numbers were different.

So for the sake of not wanting to tell someone something wrong, I figured I would come here and ask the experts.

Thanks in advance.

love you guys

[Fed]

Hey Margaret,

Like I said in the other thread, it depends on the assay, the lab, and the policies of the center. I looked at my most recent labs from DFCI (from 2 weeks ago), and my AFP reading was 3.1, with the acceptable range being 0-7.6 (I was a bit off on the high end). Although the numbers you get from a lab are fairly exact within a margin of error in measurement, a lot of it also depends on the person's metabolism and other factors.

[Margaret]

So really what you are saying is that what seems high for one person may not be high for another? I want to understand but the concept seems almost ambiguous to me (maybe I am not smart enough to comprehend this ). I was SO numbers focused during our battle with cancer...all I thought was "above 5.9 bad, below 5.9 good"...but I guess it can be in the 7's with no cause for alarm. Let me know if I am understanding this...like I said before, this is not a concept I want to be wrong about.

[dbo]

Any number below 10 really doesn't have any diagnostic value.

When it goes above 10 and you see a rising trend you can quite surely know there is (a relapse of) TC.

[TCLEFT]

Hey Margaret,

Like I said in the other thread, it depends on the assay, the lab, and the policies of the center. I looked at my most recent labs from DFCI (from 2 weeks ago), and my AFP reading was 3.1, with the acceptable range being 0-7.4 (I was a bit off on the high end). Although the numbers you get from a lab are fairly exact within a margin of error in measurement, a lot of it also depends on the person's metabolism and other factors.

Hey Fed. I was Seminoma so didn't worry about AFP. Just out of curiosity are the units of measurement fairly consistent in the US, or do different hospitals measure in different labratory measurements? See below.

Men and nonpregnant women:
0–6.4 international units per milliliter (IU/mL)

0–20 nanograms per milliliter (ng/mL)

0–20 micrograms per liter (µg/L)

[sldl1106]

The nurse in Dr. Motzer's office at Sloan Kettering told me today that they consider under 15 normal.

So things are different all over.

[mstlyn]

Kind of strange isnt it. But as I said in my other post (from another thread) all 3 different places that Anthony had labs done, have different ref. ranges than the other.

And then, even once the AFP goes over all of the high ends for each lab, some universities/hospitals will not assume cancer until it is over 20 ..

Its strange

[Fed]

Hey Fed. I was Seminoma so didn't worry about AFP. Just out of curiosity are the units of measurement fairly consistent in the US, or do different hospitals measure in different labratory measurements? See below.

Men and nonpregnant women:
0–6.4 international units per milliliter (IU/mL)

0–20 nanograms per milliliter (ng/mL)

0–20 micrograms per liter (µg/L)

DFCI uses ng/mL, which is identical to mcg/L (your last entry... I can't do symbol characters). IU is less standard.