Screening Test for Colorectal Cancer

A new test for colon cancer offers several advantages over a fecal occult blood test (FOBT) and may be more economical for widespread screening, according to an economic study presented at the meeting of the Canadian Association for Population Therapeutics in Toronto (Canada). An abstract of the article appeared in the April 2002 issue of the Canadian Journal of Clinical Pharmacology.

The economic benefit derives from the elimination of many unnecessary colonoscopies, according to the developer of the test, IMI International Medical Innovations, Inc. (Toronto, Canada). The test, called ColorectAlert, detects a cancer-associated sugar in a mucus sample and produces fewer false-positive results than FOBT. Also, the test is relatively inexpensive and does not require patients to collect their own stool sample.

A doctor collects the stool sample during a routine physical, using a digital rectal exam. The sample is placed on a small card and sent to the laboratory where it is treated with chemicals that produce a color-change reaction. The color change is read with a spectrophotometer, which produces a number indicating the presence or absence of the sugar. Two clinical trials are in progress. An earlier study of 669 patients that compared the test with FOBT showed that ColorectAlert produced significantly fewer false-positive results.

"FOBT looks for blood in the stool, but blood is often present in stool for reasons other than cancer,” said Elaine McKenzie, a consultant with Applied Management Consultants, who conducted the study. "These false-positive results require a follow-up colonoscopy to confirm the absence of colorectal cancer.”




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