Simple stool-tests that be conducted at home are reliable enough to screen for and detect colon cancer. Further, they will provide a better alternative to the procedure of invasive colonoscopies and this has been confirmed by a fresh research review.
The analysis comprising 31 studies have looked at the possible effectiveness of FIT or fecal immunochemical test, which helps in detecting hidden blood particles in the sample of stool. It discovered that a single one-time screening of FIT was able to catch up to 91% of colon cancer instances in people who were at an average risk of suffering from the disease.
Experts have said that these findings offer a lot more support towards a screening test which has been recommended for a long time– but has not been performed to often when comes to the United States. On the contrary, most Americans use colonoscopy for their screening of colon cancer. Colonoscopy, essentially, is an invasive procedure that aims to examine the colon. But many countries worldwide have been found to give preference to an annual stool test.
According to Dr. Thomas Imperiale, for a person at average risk, there exist good alternatives in comparison to colonoscopy screening, which people should be made aware of. Dr. Imperiale is the review’s senior researcher. He works in Indianapolis at the Indiana University School of Medicine and Regenstrief Institute as a gastroenterologist. He further said that sometimes patients arriving for colonoscopy screenings have never been informed about any available alternatives from their doctors at the primary care level. Imperiale stressed on the importance of doctors being forthright with their patients when it comes to their treatment.
The findings found their way online on February 26th in the Internal Medicine Annals. They have their basis in a patient group exceeding the count of 120,000, who underwent FIT screening, followed by colonoscopy.