Abstract
Fecal α1-antitrypsin measurement may be of value for the detection of coloreactal neoplasia and is compared with the HemoQuant test in 119 subjects with either a screen-positive Hemoccult result (N=78) or iron-deficiency anaemia (N=41). Nineteen patients were found to have coloreactal cancer, 35 had colorectal adenomatous polyps, 5 had inflammatory bowel disease, and 60 had no detected cause of occult blood loss. Of the cancer patients, 63% (12/19) were detected by fecal α1-antitrypsin, and 63% (12/19) by HemoQuant. Of the adenomas >1 cm in diameter 33% (7/23) were detected by fecal α1-antitrypsin and 26% (6/23) by HemoQuant. There was a poor correlation between fecal α1-antitrypsin, and HemoQuant results for colorectal cancers (r=0.37,P>0.05), and combining the tests, the sensitivity for colorectal cancer was incerased to 84% (16/19). Fecal proteins loss, as measured using α1-antitrypsin, appears to involve largely different mechanisms from that of blood loss from colorectal cancers.
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Moran, A., Robinson, M., Lawson, N. et al. Fecal α1-antitrypsin detection of colorectal neoplasia. Digest Dis Sci 40, 2522–2525 (1995). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02220436
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02220436