Screening and early diagnosis and treatment have been proven effective in reducing the incidence and mortality of colorectal cancer. Colonoscopy combined with pathological examination is the gold standard for colorectal cancer screening. However, due to the invasiveness, high cost and the need for professional endoscopists of colonoscopy, it is not feasible to directly use this method for mass population screening. Fecal immunochemical test (FIT) is one of the screening techniques recommended by authoritative international guidelines for colorectal cancer screening, and has been widely used in population-based colorectal cancer screening programs in countries around the world. This paper elaborates on the value of FIT in colorectal cancer screening from different aspects, such as the technical principles, the screening efficiency, the screening strategies, and the population effects and benefits. Additionally, it describes the current situation of colorectal cancer screening in China and summarizes the challenges faced in colorectal cancer screening in order to optimize the FIT-based colorectal cancer screening strategies in the population and provide theoretical reference for effective colorectal cancer screening.
Humans ; Early Detection of Cancer/methods* ; Colonoscopy ; Mass Screening ; Colorectal Neoplasms/pathology* ; Occult Blood

Screening and early diagnosis and treatment have been proven effective in reducing the incidence and mortality of colorectal cancer. Colonoscopy combined with pathological examination is the gold standard for colorectal cancer screening. However, due to the invasiveness, high cost and the need for professional endoscopists of colonoscopy, it is not feasible to directly use this method for mass population screening. Fecal immunochemical test (FIT) is one of the screening techniques recommended by authoritative international guidelines for colorectal cancer screening, and has been widely used in population-based colorectal cancer screening programs in countries around the world. This paper elaborates on the value of FIT in colorectal cancer screening from different aspects, such as the technical principles, the screening efficiency, the screening strategies, and the population effects and benefits. Additionally, it describes the current situation of colorectal cancer screening in China and summarizes the challenges faced in colorectal cancer screening in order to optimize the FIT-based colorectal cancer screening strategies in the population and provide theoretical reference for effective colorectal cancer screening.
Humans ; Early Detection of Cancer/methods* ; Colonoscopy ; Mass Screening ; Colorectal Neoplasms/pathology* ; Occult Blood

Objective: To compare the application effect of the colonoscopy, fecal immunochemical test (FIT) and novel risk-adapted screening approach in colorectal cancer screening in Xuzhou population. Methods: From May 2018 to April 2019, 4 280 subjects aged 50-74 were recruited from Gulou district, Yunlong district and Quanshan district of Xuzhou. They were randomly assigned to the colonoscopy group (n=863), FIT group (n=1 723) and novel risk-adapted screening approach group (n=1 694) according to the ratio of 1∶2∶2. For the novel risk-adapted screening approach group, after the risk assessment, high-risk subjects were invited to undergo colonoscopy and low-risk subjects were invited to undergo FIT examination. All FIT positive subjects were invited to undergo colonoscopy. Colonoscopy participation rate [(the number of colonoscopies completed/the number of colonoscopies invited to participate)×100%], detection rate of colorectal lesions [(the number of diagnosed patients/the number of colonoscopies completed)×100%], colonoscopy resource load (the number of colonoscopies completed/the number of diagnosed advanced tumors) and FIT resource load in each group were calculated and compared. Results: The age of all subjects was (61±6) years old, including 1 816 males (42.43%). There was no statistically significant difference in the socio-demographic characteristics of the subjects in different screening groups. The colonoscopy participation rate was 22.60% (195/863) in the colonoscopy group, 57.04% (77/135) in the FIT group, and 33.94% (149/439) in the novel risk-adapted screening approach group, respectively. The colonoscopy participation rate was higher in the FIT group than in the colonoscopy group and the novel risk-adapted screening approach group (P<0.001). The colonoscopy participation rate of novel risk-adapted screening group was significantly higher than the colonoscopy group (P<0.001). The detection rates of advanced tumors were 6.67% (13/195), 9.09% (7/77) and 8.72% (13/149), respectively, and the difference was not statistically significant (P>0.05). The colonoscopy resource load (95%CI) was 15 (13-17) in the colonoscopy group, 11 (9-14) in the FIT group and 11 (10-13) in the novel risk-adapted screening approach group, respectively. Among them, the colonoscopy resource load of high-risk individuals in the novel risk-adapted screening approach group was 12 (9-15). FIT resource loads (95%CI) were 207 (196-218) and 88 (83-94) in the FIT group and the novel risk-adapted screening approach group. Conclusion: The combined application of risk-adapted screening approach and FIT may have a good application effect in colorectal cancer screening.
Aged ; Colonoscopy ; Colorectal Neoplasms/pathology* ; Early Detection of Cancer ; Feces ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Mass Screening ; Middle Aged ; Occult Blood

Objective: To compare the detection rate of advanced neoplasia and the number of people needing endoscopy in colorectal cancer screening giving at different starting age in population at high risk. Methods: Based on the screening project of early diagnosis and treatment of colorectal cancer in Jiashan county, Zhejiang province, two rounds of colorectal cancer screening were conducted between January 2007 and December 2020. After excluding participants who were not at high risk or had incomplete information, 27 130 participants and 31 205 participants were finally enrolled in round one and in round two, respectively. The spline analysis based on the generalized additive model was used to describe the trend of detection rate of advanced neoplasia with age. The detection rate and number of people needing endoscopy for the groups with starting age at 50, 45 and 40 years were calculated, and the differences in the detection rate were tested by χ² goodness of fit test. Results: A total of 21 077 (77.69%) participants in round one and 25 249 (80.91%) participants in round two received endoscopy, in whom 1 097 (detection rate=52.05‰) and 1 151 (detection rate=45.59‰) had advanced neoplasia (cancers and advanced adenomas), respectively. The detection rate increased significantly with age, and the detection rate in round one were significantly higher than that in round two (P<0.05). The overall detection rates of advanced neoplasia for the groups with starting age at 50, 45 and 40 years were 61.11‰, 56.14‰ and 52.05‰ in round one, and 49.10‰, 46.75‰ and 45.59‰ in round two, respectively. The rates were significantly higher for the group with starting age at 50 years than that with starting age at 40 years in both round one and round two (P<0.05). The numbers of people needing endoscopy of advanced neoplasia for the groups with starting age at 50, 45 and 40 years were 17, 18, and 20 in round one, and 21, 22 and 22 in round two. Conclusions: The detection rate of advanced neoplasia increased with age. Starting screening at lower age might contribute to decreased detection rate and increased number of people needing endoscopy. However, the difference was limited.
Adult ; Colorectal Neoplasms/epidemiology* ; Early Detection of Cancer ; Humans ; Mass Screening ; Middle Aged ; Occult Blood

Adenoma ; Colonoscopy ; Colorectal Neoplasms/diagnosis* ; Early Detection of Cancer ; Feces ; Humans ; Mass Screening ; Occult Blood ; Risk Assessment ; Sensitivity and Specificity ; Surveys and Questionnaires

BACKGROUND: Fecal immunochemical tests (FITs) are the most widely used non-invasive tests in colorectal cancer (CRC) screening. However, evidence about the direct comparison of the test performance of the self-administered qualitative a laboratory-based quantitative FITs in a CRC screening setting is sparse. METHODS: Based on a CRC screening trial (TARGET-C), we included 3144 pre-colonoscopy fecal samples, including 24 CRCs, 230 advanced adenomas, 622 non-advanced adenomas, and 2268 participants without significant findings at colonoscopy. Three self-administered qualitative FITs (Pupu tube) with positivity thresholds of 8.0, 14.4, or 20.8 μg hemoglobin (Hb)/g preset by the manufacturer and one laboratory-based quantitative FIT (OC-Sensor) with a positivity threshold of 20 μg Hb/g recommended by the manufacturer were tested by trained staff in the central laboratory. The diagnostic performance of the FITs for detecting colorectal neoplasms was compared in the different scenarios using the preset and adjusted thresholds (for the quantitative FIT). RESULTS: At the thresholds preset by the manufacturers, apart from the qualitative FIT-3, significantly higher sensitivities for detecting advanced adenoma were observed for the qualitative FIT-1 (33.9% [95% CI: 28.7-39.4%]) and qualitative FIT-2 (22.2% [95% CI: 17.7-27.2%]) compared to the quantitative FIT (11.7% [95% CI: 8.4-15.8%]), while at a cost of significantly lower specificities. However, such difference was not observed for detecting CRC. For scenarios of adjusting the positivity thresholds of the quantitative FIT to yield comparable specificity or comparable positivity rate to the three qualitative FITs accordingly, there were no significant differences in terms of sensitivity, specificity, positive/negative predictive values and positive/negative likelihood ratios for detecting CRC or advanced adenoma between the two types of FITs, which was further evidenced in ROC analysis. CONCLUSIONS Although the self-administered qualitative and the laboratory-based quantitative FITs had varied test performance at the positivity thresholds preset by the manufacturer, such heterogeneity could be overcome by adjusting thresholds to yield comparable specificities or positivity rates. Future CRC screening programs should select appropriate types of FITs and define the thresholds based on the targeted specificities and manageable positivity rates.
Colonoscopy ; Colorectal Neoplasms/diagnosis* ; Early Detection of Cancer ; Feces ; Hemoglobins/analysis* ; Humans ; Laboratories ; Occult Blood ; Sensitivity and Specificity

colorectal cancer (CRC). However, studies on the clinical impact of each parameter have produced controversial results. Moreover, there is a paucity of comprehensive studies regarding these parameters in Korean CRC patients.METHODS: Sixty-eight CRC patients who underwent surgical resection were recruited for this study. NLR was measured using an automated blood cell counter. Flow cytometric analysis was performed to determine lymphocyte subsets and identify MDSCs during the diagnostic stage. Clinical and laboratory data were analyzed according to each blood parameter.RESULTS: The distribution of lymphocytes, MDSCs, and NLR were not associated with TNM stages. Large tumor sizes (P=0.042) and greater perineural invasion (P=0.031) were significantly associated with high CD19+ B-cell populations. Elevated granulocytic MDSCs (P=0.234), total MDSCs (P=0.234), and NLR (P=0.062) were associated with the poorly differentiated type of CRC, albeit without statistical significance. Additionally, patients in the high CD19+ B-cell group (P=0.012) revealed a moderately inferior relapse-free survival.CONCLUSIONS: Our findings indicate that preoperative evaluation of CD19+ B-cell proportion is recommended to predict the clinical outcomes of patients with stage II-III CRC.]]>
B-Lymphocytes ; Blood Cell Count ; Colorectal Neoplasms ; Humans ; Lymphocyte Subsets ; Lymphocytes

BACKGROUND: Fecal occult blood tests have been widely used to screen for colorectal cancer. SENTiFIT 270 (Sentinel diagnostics, Italy) is a fecal occult blood test with an immunochemical method that utilizes FOB Gold reagents. We evaluated the performance of SENTiFIT 270 using the FOB Gold reagent. In addition, FOB Gold was evaluated with the HITACHI 7180 (Hitachi Ltd., Japan). METHODS: The precision and linearity of the SENTiFIT 270 was evaluated in accordance with applicable Clinical and Laboratory Standard Institute guidelines. The comparison study between SENTiFIT 270-FOB Gold and the OC-Sensor (Eiken chemical Co., Japan) was performed using stool specimens. RESULTS: In the precision evaluation, the total precision of SENTiFIT 270-FOB Gold was 4.94% and 2.54% at high and low concentrations, respectively. The HITACHI 7180-FOB Gold had excellent precision of 4.60% and 2.09% at high and low concentrations, respectively. Linearity was also excellent for the SENTiFIT 270-FOB Gold and HITACHI 7180-FOB Gold at 0.9987 and 0.9986, respectively. The SENTITIF 270-FOB Gold showed excellent agreement with a kappa value of 0.830 and a concordance rate of 93.6%. The HITACHI 7180-FOB Gold showed high agreement with a kappa value of 0.832 and a concordance rate of 93.9%. CONCLUSION: The SENTiFIT 270-FOB Gold showed excellent performance in accuracy, linearity, and comparative inspection ability.
Colonic Neoplasms ; Colorectal Neoplasms ; Indicators and Reagents ; Methods ; Occult Blood

BACKGROUND/AIMS: To examine whether visceral adiposity serves as a risk factor for colorectal cancer (CRC) and colorectal adenomas. METHODS: Two hundred healthy subjects, 200 patients with colorectal adenoma, and 151 patients with CRC (46 with early-stage and 105 with advanced-stage cancers) were enrolled at a tertiary referral hospital. All subjects underwent colonoscopy, and had laboratory data, and computed tomography (CT) scan available for abdominal fat measurement. An abdominal CT scan taken 1 to 4 years (mean interval, 20.6 months) before the diagnosis of CRC was also available in the 42 CRC patients. RESULTS: The mean areas of visceral adipose tissue (VAT) areas in the control, adenoma, early- and advanced-stage CRC groups were 94.6, 116.8, 110.4, and 99.7 cm², respectively (P<0.001). The risk of adenoma positively correlated with VAT area and the visceral-to-total fat ratio (P for trend <0.01), but the risk of CRC did not (P>0.05). The risk of both adenoma and CRC positively correlated with fasting plasma glucose levels (P for trend <0.05). In patients with early-stage cancer (n=17), VAT area decreased when the CT scan at diagnosis was compared with that taken before the diagnosis of CRC, but superficial adipose tissue area did not, so visceral-to-total fat ratio significantly decreased (46.6% vs. 50.7%, respectively, P=0.018) CONCLUSIONS: VAT area is related to the risk of colorectal adenoma. However, VAT decreases from the early stages of CRC. Impaired fasting glucose has a role in colorectal carcinogenesis.
Abdominal Fat ; Adenoma ; Adipose Tissue ; Adiposity ; Blood Glucose ; Carcinogenesis ; Colonoscopy ; Colorectal Neoplasms ; Diagnosis ; Fasting ; Glucose ; Healthy Volunteers ; Humans ; Insulin Resistance ; Insulin ; Intra-Abdominal Fat ; Obesity ; Risk Factors ; Tertiary Care Centers ; Tomography, X-Ray Computed

PURPOSE: The incidence of colorectal cancer in Korea has recently increased, making it the second most common cancer in men and the third most common cancer in women. Risk factors for colorectal cancer have been studied worldwide, but risk factors specific for the Korean population have not been established. In this study, we investigated incidence trends and risk factors of colorectal cancer in Korea.METHODS: A total of 8,846,749 subjects were included. Colorectal cancer incidence was investigated using Korea National Health Insurance Service claim data from 2004 to 2014. Colorectal cancer diagnoses were obtained by evaluating colorectal cancer diagnostic codes and the cancer registry for cost sharing. Risk factor identification for colorectal cancer was obtained from National Health Examination data from 2004 to 2005. Cox proportional hazard model statistical analysis was used to determine risk factors of colorectal cancer.RESULTS: The incidence of colorectal cancer gradually increased from 2006 to 2014 (from 45.4/100,000 to 54.5/100,000). There was a predominance among men (1.47:1), but incidence trends were similar in both sexes. Old age, high body mass index, and no history of colonoscopy were identified as risk factors in both sexes. High fasting blood glucose, familial history of cancer, frequent alcohol intake, and current smoker were identified as risk factors, especially in men.CONCLUSION: The incidence of colorectal cancer has been increasing in Korea. Colonoscopy screening was a protective factor for colorectal cancer, and active use of colonoscopy may reduce incidence. Early diagnosis and care are important, particularly for the high-risk group.
Blood Glucose ; Body Mass Index ; Cohort Studies ; Colonoscopy ; Colorectal Neoplasms ; Cost Sharing ; Diagnosis ; Early Diagnosis ; Fasting ; Female ; Humans ; Incidence ; Korea ; Male ; Mass Screening ; National Health Programs ; Population Characteristics ; Proportional Hazards Models ; Protective Factors ; Retrospective Studies ; Risk Factors