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Fecal occult blood test/fecal carcinoembriogenic antigen dual rapid test as a useful tool for colorectal cancer screening

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Summary

Background

There are several screening tools for colorectal cancer (CRC). Most are limited in their application. The fecal occult blood test (FOBT) is a first-step screen for CRC that is limited by low sensitivity. This study aimed to prove the efficacy of combined FOBT and fecal carcinoembryogenic antigen (fCEA) as a CRC screening test.

Methods

Stool samples were collected preoperatively from 166 CRC patients expected to undergo elective surgery and from normal control patients. A fecal CEA/FOBT dual kit was created and the results from the use of this dual kit were compared against other clinicopathologic parameters.

Results

FOBT was positive in 103 of the 166 (62.0%) CRC patients and fCEA was positive in 114 (68.7%) patients, showing a statistically positive relationship. Among 63 FOBT negative patients, 29 (17%) cases were CEA positive. Thus, the CEA/FOBT dual test could detect CRC in 79.5% of the patients (132/166). The sensitivity and specificity of the dual FOBT/CEA test was 79.5% and 97.9%, respectively.

Conclusions

The FOBT/CEA dual test has increased sensitivity compared to the FOBT test and may have merit as a screening device for colorectal cancer. Population-based studies are required to confirm this potential.

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Acknowledgements

This work was partially supported by the Technology Innovation Program (No: 10049771, Development of Highly-Specialized Platform for IVD Medical Devices) funded by the Ministry of Trade, Industry & Energy (MI, Korea).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Trauma Surgery, College of Medicine, The Catholic University of Korea, Seoul, Republic of Korea

    Maru Kim

  2. Department of Surgery, Division of Colorectal Surgery, College of Medicine, The Catholic University of Korea, 222, Banpo-daero, Seocho-gu, 137–701, Seoul, Republic of Korea

    Hyung-Jin Kim, In Kyu Lee & Seong-Taek Oh

  3. Department of Laboratory Medicine, College of Medicine, The Catholic University of Korea, Seoul, Republic of Korea

    Kyungja Han

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  1. Maru Kim
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  2. Hyung-Jin Kim
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Seong-Taek Oh.

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Conflict of interest

M. Kim, H.-J. Kim, In Kyu Lee, S.-T. Oh, and K. Han declare that they have no competing interests.

Additional information

This study was written as a graduate thesis.

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Kim, M., Kim, HJ., Lee, I.K. et al. Fecal occult blood test/fecal carcinoembriogenic antigen dual rapid test as a useful tool for colorectal cancer screening. Eur Surg 49, 127–131 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10353-017-0464-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10353-017-0464-2

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