In France, systematic screening for colorectal cancer concerns everyone aged 50 and over. In the United States, official recommendations are to start five years earlier. The fact is that in both countries and elsewhere in the world, most affected people do not, although it is recognized that early diagnosis saves lives.
“One explanation, doctors say, lies in screening methods. noted The New York Times. Whether it’s a colonoscopy or a stool test for blood, “They left out a lot of people.” “Either you take this horrible laxative and then the doctor puts an instrument in your butt, or you have to handle your stool.” Folsade May, a gastroenterologist who works at UCLA Health, summarizes in the American Daily.
A blood test, which is the subject of a scientific article published in New England Journal of Medicine, the situation may change. It is based on the fact that “Colon cancer and polyps — growths that develop on the colon wall and sometimes turn into cancer — release fragments of DNA into the blood.”, details New York Times.
According to the results of a study conducted on more than 10,000 people, the test, developed by biotechnology company Guardian Health, is able to detect 87% of cancers at an early stage where treatment can still cure the disease. the disease However, there are 10% false positives, meaning people who are misclassified as having colorectal cancer.
This test will allow intervention at an early stage of the disease
The main difficulty is the poor detection of polyps. The test detects only 13%, compared to 43% with stool analysis and 94% with colonoscopy. In other words, this new tool will make it possible to diagnose the early stages and implement treatment as soon as possible that is more likely to work, but will not prevent the onset of the disease by preventively removing polyps that can become cancerous.
For gastroenterologist John Carrethers, deputy director of the Department of Medicine at the University of San Diego, author of the second article. New England Journal of Medicine“Screening aims to reduce deaths from colorectal cancer in the population as a whole”, Raise it up New York Times. So he believes that it is not so serious that the blood test does not detect polyps, as long as patients undergo them regularly to monitor the possibility of their transformation into cancer.
Above all, he believes, “The best screening test is the one the patient actually does.” Which appears to be more the case in the blood test.
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