Because it's slow moving, colon cancer is one of the most curable forms of cancer. But lack of early detection has made colon cancer the second leading cause of cancer death in the US, killing about 50,000 people every year.
How come so many cases of colon cancer go undetected until it's often too late?
Because people are terrified of getting a colonoscopy.
The procedure, where a camera in a long, thin tube is inserted into the anus, is highly effective, generally thought to catch 90% of cancer and pre-cancer in patients.
Regular colonoscopies starting at age 50 can catch cancer in its earliest and most treatable stages.
But the procedure is invasive. It requires the patient to take time off work; before as they clear out their bowels with icky gel-like laxative drinks, then after as they recover. Patients also have to be sedated during the procedure, which can add to their nervousness.
And, then there's the obvious reason why people don't want to get a colonoscopy: they don't want a long, thin tube inserted into their anuses.
Researchers at Exact Sciences Corp., a small diagnostics company specializing in colorectal cancer, have created a screening kit they hope will attract people who are otherwise too embarrassed to get a colonoscopy.
The test, called Cologuard, is a stool-based DNA (sDNA) screening kit that tests skin cells constantly shed into the, ahem, stool stream. Cancerous or precancerous colon polyps have altered DNA, which the test picks up on.
Health care providers would prescribe the test to the patients who could collect a sample at home and send it to the lab.
Sure, testing your poop isn't most pleasant idea, but at least it's easy and private.
Exact Sciences said a preliminary study of 1,100 patient samples found Cologuard detected 85% of colorectal cancers and 64% of colorectal pre-cancers. The Mayo Clinic collaborated with Exact Sciences on the study.
Because colonoscopies are so effective in detecting precancerous polyps, Exact Science stresses that Cologuard should not act as a replacement test but rather a first step in detecting the disease.
