Hi there
I am 53 and have had surgery in Jan 2011 for a recurrent GCT - the original was in Jan 2007 where I had total hysterectomy, omentectomy and appendectomy and lymph sampling. Stage 1c - no chemo. Following the original 2007 surgery I had 6 monthly inhibin checks for both inhibin a and b. I was always told they were off the bottom of the scale.
Last year my inhibin b level started to rise (June 112, Sept 190, Dec 344) CT scans originally showed asites, a small lesion in my left lung, but no visible tumour. Exploratory surgery in Jan 11 discovered a 7cm tumour attached to my intestine and several smaller tumours in the pelvic gutter (none of which had been spotted on the CT scan in Dec) - all were removed successfully and asites drained. I was advised not to have chemotherapy as there was no residual tumour. I had originally been prescribed HRT following the 2007 surgery, but testing of the recurrent tumour showed it to be oestrogen and progesterone receptive, so I am now off that. CT scan in April 11 showed no changes in the lung lesion and no further problems.
Post operative Feb 11 blood test showed the inhibin b level was down to 29, but in April it was 32. I know this is massively better than 344, but I thought that if all the cancer had been removed that the levels would drop close to 0 and would certainly have dropped further since the Feb levels. My oncologist said its ok as its stable, but I am worried that it is just making an immediate if gradual comeback. Understandably I am no longer confident in the doctors spotting future tumour growth until its quite big, so I tend to rely on the inhibin tests to provide me with the alarm bells.
How accurate is inhibin b is suggesting that GCT is hovering in the background, even if it isn't making an aggressive comeback? Should I be concerned that it rose slightly in April? I do know that once recurrent GCT gets a hold it can be relentless. Any further informatin on this would be gratefully received. Thanks