At-home fecal immunochemical test (FIT) kits can identify most colon cancers, which gives patients an alternative to colonoscopy.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), colon cancer is the second leading cause of cancer-related deaths in the U.S. In 2010, around 132,000 people were diagnosed with the disease and about 52,000 people died from it.
The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) suggests that people between the age of 50 and 75 should get screened by colonoscopy every 10 years. During colonoscopy, doctors use a long flexible tube equipped with a tiny video camera to see the interior of the colon.
Jeffrey Lee, lead author and a post-doctoral researcher at the Kaiser Permanente Division of Research in Oakland and the University of California, San Francisco, says that FIT is capable to detect 79 percent of colorectal cancers; however, colonoscopies can identify 90 percent of colorectal cancers.
Doctors have debated the best method of screening for colorectal cancer; however, most doctors agree that people should get tested no matter what method they choose. Lee says that about 30 percent of eligible adults in the U.S. have never been tested for colorectal cancer at all.
Previously, fecal tests were supposed to be the least effective option to detect colorectal cancer. FIT home kits work by detecting blood in a stool sample. Patients are required to use brushes included in test kits to take samples of their stool and then mail it to a doctor or lab.
Lee says that an older version, the fecal occult blood test (FOBT), detected only 13 percent to 50 percent of colorectal cancers. However, new analysis, which examined the results of 19 earlier studies, indicates that the newer FIT screening produces much more improved results.
The FOBT screening required people to take three samples over three days, while the FIT uses just one sample. Moreover, FOBT required people to stop certain food or medication but the FIT lets people eat whatever they like.
Many people think that colonoscopy is risky as well as embarrassing. Colonoscopy is supposed to be safe but Lee says that 1 in a 1000 procedure can puncture the colon and create complications for the patient. Some patients do not like the idea of a doctor inserting a tube in their rectum and, therefore, avoid going for colonoscopy. However, with the FIT kit, patients can take samples in the comfort of their own home.
