An experimental blood test for detecting colorectal cancer also shows promise for preventing it, researchers say.
Several blood tests are already commercially available for colorectal cancer screening, but the new test is also highly sensitive for precancerous polyps known as advanced adenomas. Removing those polyps can prevent the cancer from developing.
Testing the assay in more than 1,500 adults participating in colonoscopy screening programs in China, Japan, and Spain, they found it detected 92% of stage I, II, or III colorectal cancers and 81% of advanced adenomas, according to a report in The Lancet Gastroenterology & Hepatology.
The test was also 85% accurate at identifying people without precancerous lesions in the colon.
“Developing an acceptable, feasible, non-invasive test that can accurately detect colorectal precancerous lesions could become an extremely valuable tool for preventing, rather than only detecting colorectal cancer,” researchers not involved in the study wrote in an editorial.
Because it can distinguish between low-risk adenomas, high-risk adenomas, and cancers, the blood test could potentially be used to risk-stratify patients who require urgent colonoscopy, those who might still require a colonoscopy to remove advanced adenomas and thereby prevent colorectal cancer, and those who might not need a colonoscopy, the researchers said.
Doctors still recommend colonoscopy as the gold-standard method for colorectal cancer screening, with stool tests and blood tests advised only for patients who won’t or can’t comply.
Positive blood tests still require follow-up colonoscopies, but patients are more likely to comply in those cases, earlier studies have shown.
Researchers say larger-scale trials of the new blood test are still needed, particularly because while it found worrisome polyps, which are small bumps or overgrowths, it was less successful at identifying so-called sessile, or flat, areas of concern.
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