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Blood-Based Testing for Colorectal Cancer Screening

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Abstract

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the third most common non-skin cancer diagnosed in men and women in the USA and worldwide. While it has been clearly established that screening for CRC, using a variety of methods, is cost effective and has a significant impact on overall survival, screening rates have proven to be sub-optimal. It has been long conjectured that a simple blood-based test, with a specimen drawn at a routine doctor’s office visit, would encourage those individuals who have refused or ignored screening recommendations to undergo screening. This article reviews the currently available blood-based screening tests for CRC, including the ColonSentry™ messenger RNA (mRNA) expression panel and the SEPT9 methylated DNA test, and explores newer biomarkers that are near clinical implementation. Also discussed are additional applications for blood-based CRC testing, such as assessing prognosis, disease surveillance, and expansion of screening tests to high-risk populations, such as the estimated 1.4 million individuals in the USA with inflammatory bowel disease.

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Acknowledgments

The author would like to thank Jorja DeGrado Warren for assistance with graphics and the critical reading of this manuscript. The author has no conflicts of interest that are directly relevant to the content of this article.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Oncology Technology Development and Licensing, ARUP Laboratories Inc., 500 Chipeta Way, Mail stop #209, Salt Lake City, UT, 84108, USA

    Karen A. Heichman

  2. Department of Pathology, University of Utah School of Medicine, Salt Lake City, USA

    Karen A. Heichman

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Correspondence to Karen A. Heichman.

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Heichman, K.A. Blood-Based Testing for Colorectal Cancer Screening. Mol Diagn Ther 18, 127–135 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40291-013-0074-z

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