Carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) levels in benign gastrointestinal Others include cancers of the pancreas, stomach, breast, lung, and medullary carcinoma of the thyroid and ovarian cancer.Benign conditions which can elevate CEA include smoking, infections, inflammatory bowel disease . False-positive results greater than 15 ng/mL are rare, and all confirmed CEA levels greater than 35 ng/mL were associated with cancer recurrence. Second, I'm just getting over having a bacterial infection as a side effect of the 2nd surgery. Stress is bad for you too. False-positive CEA elevations have been reported to occur in smokers and in patients with nonmalignant conditions, including gastrointestinal disease (eg, inflammatory bowel disease, pancreatitis, liver disease, diverticulitis, hepatitis, peptic ulcers, biliary obstruction, cirrhosis), lung disease (eg, chronic CA 15-3 Tumor Marker - Non-cancer causes of increase These levels are considered abnormal. Serum CEA levels fluctuate over time in healthy individuals, and the intraindividual variation has been reported to be about 30% . What questions or next steps would be reasonable to ask her? Epub 2012 Jan 12. Hi Dianne, CA 125 test - Mayo Clinic - Mayo Clinic - Mayo Clinic How long does it take for CEA to go down? Other Conditions Can Cause Elevated CA 15-3 Levels. We did colonoscopies for almost 7 years and my gastroenterologist decided that we should remove the remainder of the colon to eliminate any further polyps. Oncol Lett. It can cause you to overeat, overeat and drink, or over-compensate for the stress. Smoking tobacco can increase serum AFP levels. Again, nothing found. I'm so sorry about your mom. False-positive results greater than 15 ng/mL are rare, and all confirmed CEA levels greater than 35 ng/mL were associated with cancer recurrence. Diverticulitis . Dropped to 3.7 after sugery.