Hi doctor, My mother is receiving breast cancer treatment for the past five years. Recently, she went for the blood test, and her results for tumor marker CA 15-3 has gone above 500 U/mL. Is it bad? Does her cancer got spread? I am concerned. Please help.
Hi. I can understand your concern. Cancer antigen 15-3 (CA 15-3) is a tumor marker. Its range is raised. It is alarming and highly suspicious to have the recurrence of the previously treated breast cancer. So it is better to repeat the test. So, she must consult her oncologist soon, and she may need to undergo a series of investigations like PET (positron emission tomography) or CT (computed tomography) scan, blood tests, bone scan, and mammogram. After seeing the results, all the doubts will get cleared soon.