A colonoscopy is the gold standard for detecting colon cancer. But many patients try to avoid the test as it is a very invasive test. Recently, a fecal occult blood stool test has been used. This test looks for blood hidden in the stool. However, the test misses a majority of cancers. The new test looks for DNA mutations in the stool. Researchers say the results are encouraging.
“A simple, non-invasive test that detects tumor-specific products with reasonable sensitivity and specificity might overcome barriers to screening among persons who are not willing to have a more invasive test, such as colonoscopy,” say researchers.The study included more than 4,400 participants , the individuals were a mix of those with and without colon cancer. Researchers say the fecal occult blood test found only 13 percent of colorectal cancer, while the new DNA stool test detected 52 percent of the cancers and it’s presumed a colonoscopy would find 100 percent of the cancers.
In conclusion researchers say the new stool DNA panel test gives people another and more accurate noninvasive option.
