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A tumour marker of 6.5 (CEA), does it necessarily mean cancer?

April 26, 2017cancer CEA Conditions diseases Health Marker mean necessarily Tumour

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A tumour marker of 6.5 (CEA), does it necessarily mean cancer?

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Tumor markers are not specific enough to be diagnostic and they are only used as tools in diagnosing or treating cancer. Yes factors other than cancer can cause a CEA to rise. A normal CEA is <2.5 for non-smokers and <5.0 in smokers. So your mother’s is elevated, but not too much. It is an indication that something is wrong now she will need other tests to find out what it is, but it is not necessarily cancer.