Comparison between a guaiac and three immunochemical faecal occult blood tests in screening for colorectal cancer

• Published in: European journal of cancer (1990) Vol. 48; no. 16; pp. 2969 - 2976
• Main Authors: Faivre, J, Dancourt, V, Denis, B, Dorval, E, Piette, C, Perrin, Ph, Bidan, J.M, Jard, C, Jung, S, Levillain, R, Viguier, J, Bretagne, J.F
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Kidlington Elsevier Ltd 01.11.2012; Elsevier
• Subjects: Adenoma - blood; Adenoma - pathology; Aged; Biological and medical sciences; Biomarkers, Tumor - analysis; Carcinoma - blood; Carcinoma - pathology; Colonoscopy; Colorectal cancer; Colorectal Neoplasms - blood; Colorectal Neoplasms - pathology; Faecal occult blood tests; Feces - chemistry; Female; France; Guaiac; Hematology, Oncology and Palliative Medicine; Hemoglobins - analysis; Humans; Immunohistochemistry; Male; Mass Screening - methods; Medical sciences; Middle Aged; Occult Blood; Pharmacology. Drug treatments; Predictive Value of Tests; Screening; Tumors; France; Screening; Faecal occult blood tests; Colorectal cancer; Rectal disease; Malignant tumor; Medical screening; Blood; Colonic disease; Cancerology; Digestive diseases; Intestinal disease; Feces; Comparative study; Cancer
• ISSN: 0959-8049; 1879-0852
• DOI: 10.1016/j.ejca.2012.04.007

Abstract Background The aim of this study was to compare the performance of the guaiac-based faecal occult blood test (G-FOBT), with that of three immunochemical faecal occult blood tests (I-FOBT) which allow automatic interpretation. Patients and methods Under the French organised screening programme, 85,149 average-risk individuals aged 50–74 participating in the third screening round, performed both the G-FOBT (Hemoccult-II test) and one of the I-FOBTs: FOB-Gold, Magstream and OC-Sensor. Results Given the chosen threshold, the positivity ratio between the different I-FOBTs and the G-FOBT was 2.4 for FOB-Gold, 2.0 for Magstream and 2.2 for OC-Sensor ( P = 0.17). The three I-FOBTs were superior to the G-FOBT for colorectal cancer (CRC) detection. The ratios for detection rates were 1.6 (FOB-Gold), 1.7 (Magstream) and 2.1 (OC-Sensor) ( P = 0.74). For non-invasive CRC they were, respectively, 2.5, 3.0 and 4.0 ( P = 0.83) and for advanced adenomas 3.6, 3.1 and 4.0 ( P = 0.39). Conclusions This study provides further evidence that I-FOBT is superior to G-FOBT. None of the three I-FOBTs studied appeared to be significantly better than the others.