A noninvasive test could effectively efficiently detect precancer and cancer of the colon.
Then test, dubbed Cologuard, is a "noninvasive sDNA test for the early detection of colorectal precancer and cancer," a Mayo Clinic news release reported. The test analyzes DNA in a stool sample and looks for signatures of colon abnormalities such as cancer. The samples can be easily mailed from home, and do not require any preparation or diet change.
"Cologuard detection rates of early stage cancer and high-risk precancerous polyps validated in this large study were outstanding and have not been achieved by other noninvasive approaches," the study's author David Ahlquist M.D., a Mayo Clinic gastroenterologist and co-inventor of the Cologuard test, said in the news release. "It is our hope that this accurate and user-friendly test will expand screening effectiveness and help curb colorectal cancer rates in much the same way as regular screening, including genetic testing, has done for cervical cancer."
The researchers tested the method on 10,000 patients and compared the results with the fecal immunochemical test for occult blood (FIT). Cologuard was found to be sensitive to cancer 92 percent of the time; this number rose to 94 percent in the cancer's early and most curable phases. The test was 69 percent effective in detecting precancerous polyps that were likely to develop into cancer. These statistics were significantly higher than the FIT method's.
"The most important finding of the study is the high sensitivity of Cologuard for curable stage colorectal cancer, which represents the highest sensitivity of any noninvasive test to date," Thomas Imperiale, M.D., a Professor of Medicine at Indiana University Medical Center in Indianapolis and a study author, said in the news release. "It is also significant to note that these results were achieved in a robustly conducted multicenter study."
Colorectal cancer has been considered to be one of the most preventable, but lack of screening in large U.S. populations has made it the second leading cause of cancer-death.
"This test has the potential to bring colon cancer screening to many patients who might otherwise go without any screening," Kenneth Wang, M.D., a Mayo Clinic gastroenterologist, director of the Advanced Endoscopy Group and president of the American Society for Gastrointestinal Endoscopy, said in the news release. "I'm hopeful that this will increase the number of patients obtaining lifesaving colonoscopy with early detection and removal of precancerous and early cancerous polyps."
