At Home Test may Detect up to 79 Percent of Colorectal Cancers

For many suffering from gastrointestinal issues, colonoscopies may be the only way to completely test for the possibility of certain problems, including colon cancer. Yet a recent study shows that a new test that uses only a single stool sample analysis may be able to detect up to 79 percent of colorectal cancers.

Based on the review of 19 studies that examined eight different fecal immunochemical tests, known as "FIT," they found that the tests were able to correctly identify about 94 percent of patients who did not have cancers of the rectum or colon.

"We know the FIT is easy to use, and now we also know that it is a great tool for assessing which patients have cancer and which patients don't," said Beth Liles, MD, review co-author and clinical investigator at the Kaiser Permanente Center for Health Research in Portland, Ore., via a press release. 

As colorectal cancer is the second leading cause of cancer death in the United States, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, many adults often miss the proper disease screenings-causing the health issue to progress past the point of proper treatment.

Nineteen studies were reviewed beteween 80 and 27,860 patients, between the average age of 45 to 63. Though study settings varied, all included some patients with no symptoms of colorectal cancer. In 12 of the studies, according to background information from the release, all patients took the FIT test and also received a colonoscopy. However, In seven of the studies, patients only received a colonoscopy if they received a positive result from the FIT test. Two years later, patients followed up who received a negative FIT test in order to determine if the diagnoses had been correct.

The study, funded by the National Institutes of Health, found overall that the FITs, on average, detected around 79 percent of cases, or approximately 4 out of 5 cancers, with only one round of testing. The tests also proved highly sensitive-with 94 percent of people who did not have cancer testing negative in a single round.

"FIT is simple, can be done at home, and can save lives," said Jeffrey Lee, MD, MAS, the study's lead author and post-doctoral researcher at the Kaiser Permanente Division of Research in Oakland, Calif. and University of California, San Francisco, via the release. "The American Cancer Society and other professional organizations have recommended FIT as a screening tool for colorectal cancer since 2008, but there are still many people who don't know about it."

More information regarding the study can be found via the Annals of Internal Medicine.