Non-invasive test for colon cancer and polyps exhibits good results
New approach shown to be much more accurate than current faecal screening
Hong �ong university has developed the world ’ s first faecal
A �bacterial gene markers� test for colorectal , or colon , cancer . The colon is the longest part of the large intestine .
Whereas faecal immunochemical testing ( FIT ) commonly used for screening has low sensitivity , which means it has an early-cancer detection rate of only around 50 percent , and fails to detect polyps , the Chinese University of Hong �ong ’ s new non-invasive approach is 94 percent successful and can also accurately detect polyp recurrence .
The novel test can spare patients from an unnecessary colonoscopy , thus reducing the risk of invasive testing and avoiding an additional burden on medical services .
According to the Hong �ong Cancer �egistry , the five-year survival rate of patients with stage 1 colorectal cancer is 9� percent but drops dramatically to less than 10 percent when patients are diagnosed at stage 4 .
Early diagnosis and treatment of cancers are associated with a favourable prognosis . As most colorectal cancers originate from polyps , early detection and polyp removal can prevent their development .
Current colorectal cancer screening tools have two major shortcomings . First , FIT is not sensitive enough and has a high falsenegative rate . Second , there are no non-invasive tools for the detection of recurrent polyps .
This means patients need to undergo surveillance colonoscopy on a regular basis to detect polyp recurrence . The inconvenience and discomfort of repeated colonoscopies deter many people from having the exam .
Through analysis of stool samples from over 1,100 participants , researchers found the sensitivity of M3 , a group of four unique bacterial DNA markers , is comparable to that of a colonoscopy for cancer detection and supersedes that of FIT for early cancer and polyp detection .
Completing treatment for breast cancer should be done faster than advised
Study finds that prognosis is better within a shorter window
B
reast cancer patients have higher survival rates when their treatment is completed within 3� weeks from first being diagnosed .
�esearch from the Cleveland Clinic on more than 2� , 000 breast cancer patients found that treatment through surgery , chemotherapy , or radiation within that timeframe was associated with a slightly higher five-year survival rate than those whose treatment took longer .
This builds on previous research that noted poorer outcomes when there was a delay in completing treatment .
�The biggest difference in our study from others was that we looked at the time from diagnosis to the completion of the multimodality treatment to identify the 3�-week window to improve survival rate for patients with breast cancer , � Dr Debra Pratt , director of the �reast Centre at Cleveland Clinic Fairview Hospital and the lead author of the study , said on its release .
�In breast and other cancers , patients don ’ t only get surgery , but may also require chemotherapy and radiation therapy . This becomes a complicated system to navigate , and there are multiple reasons why delays arise in treatment being completed . This analysis helps us identify opportunities for improving care within the delivery systems , � she said .
Other studies have concluded that the optimal time from diagnosis to first surgical treatment was less than 90 days and less than 120 days from diagnosis to supplementary chemotherapy . When chemotherapy is administered , the radiation should start less than 3�5 days from the date of diagnosis .
The new study found that the optimal time for treatment completion should be 99 days shorter than commonly recommended targets .
GlobalHealthAsiaPacific . com AUGUST 2021
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