Colonoscopy or stool test?

The blood test in the stool can dependably diagnose colon cancer if it will be used yearly; they are also efficient even in the 2nd, 3rd and even to the 4rth years of screening according to the new study. The researchers also added that these studies, bids that the stool tests may be a reasonable way to screen and a better alternative to colonoscopy. At present, it is considered as the standard for colon cancer screening.  Better known as the fecal immunochemical tests, the experts check the stool samples for microscopic quantity of blood that will be shed by the colon tumors; this was explained by Dr. Corley, a scientist from California.

The doctors have been very much concerned about the fecal blood tests, and they worry that it will not be effective along the way, thus the usefulness of the screening tool will be compromised. Colon tumors or better known as the precancerous polyps must be big enough to start releasing blood into the stool of a person, Dr. Corley added. This goes to show that if all of the big tumors along with polyps were discovered and eradicated in the 1st year of screening, the issue was there might be a big drop off in cancer diagnostics in the coming years, he said.

Cancer detection

To find out if that ever occurs; the researchers followed yearly fecal blood tests done on around 325,000 patients in a hospital in California during a 4 year period. The 1st year with the fecal blood tests discovered colon cancer in around 84.5% all who joined test with the disease, according to the study.  They have discovered that the cancer sensitivity was somehow higher during the 1st year, but this is not something new anymore according to Dr. Corely. The 1st year that a person was screened for cancer like breast cancer, for instance, of any other cancer type, you will be able to discover cancers that have been there for quite some time now and that may be bigger or simpler to discover.

On the other hand, the effectiveness of the fecal blood test depends between 73-78% in 2-4 years. This means that the test will still be capable of getting new tumors as they grow and reach the size that is easy to detect according to the researchers.  The findings that were published in a journal by Dr. Wender said that they can really find early cancers in a continuous manner as they become larger. For more than ten years, the test will be likely to go on in preventing the number of fatality just as colonoscopy did since it is usually performed once in every ten years only. Though colonoscopy is still advantageous than the early blood fecal test, it may also be just as efficient as colonoscopy in determining colon cancer if given a chance.