Uptake of a colorectal cancer screening blood test is higher than of a fecal test offered in clinic: A randomized trial

• Published in: Cancer treatment and research communications 2017, Vol.10, p.27-31
• Main Authors: Liles, Elizabeth G., Coronado, Gloria D., Perrin, Nancy, Harte, Amy Howell, Nungesser, Raymond, Quigley, Neil, Potter, Nicholas T., Weiss, Gunter, Koenig, Thomas, deVos, Theo
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Blood test; Colorectal cancer; Fecal immunochemical test; Hematologic tests; Mass screening; Uptake
• ISSN: 2468-2942; 2468-2942
• DOI: 10.1016/j.ctarc.2016.12.004

Colorectal cancer screening programs seek to maintain patient adherence to repeated tests over the duration of patients’ screening eligibility. This study compares uptake of an experimental blood test with that of a FIT for colorectal cancer screening in an office setting. This small two-site randomized controlled trial (ClinicalTrials.gov, ID NCT02251782) assigned 413 average-risk adults overdue for screening in an integrated health system to one of two arms: Offer of a FIT versus offer of a blood test for colorectal cancer screening. The primary outcome was completion of the offered test within six weeks. Secondary outcomes were the proportion of participants with positive test results, and the proportion of participants with positive results who completed colonoscopy within 3 months of referral. 99.5% (CI95: 97.3%-100%) of participants in the blood test arm and 88.1% (CI95: 83.0% − 91.8%) of participants in the FIT arm completed the offered test, a difference of 11.4% (CI95: 6.9% − 15.9%, p