Blood Test May Provide New Option for Colorectal Cancer Screening

MONDAY, Feb. 3, 2025 (HealthDay News) — A blood-based test (Freenome) may provide a new option for colorectal cancer (CRC) screening in the average-risk U.S. population, according to a study presented at the American Society of Clinical Oncology annual Gastrointestinal Cancers Symposium, held from Jan. 23 to 25 in San Francisco.

Aasma Shaukat, M.D., from the New York University Grossman School of Medicine in New York City, and colleagues previously evaluated clinical performance of an investigational blood-based screening test for detecting molecular signals of advanced colorectal neoplasia (ACN) in an average-risk population. This analysis evaluated how the test would perform in the standard U.S. population, weighting the validation cohort (27,010 participants aged 45 to 85 years) to the U.S. Census sex and age distribution.

The researchers report that after performance was weighted to match U.S. Census sex and age distributions, sensitivity for CRC was 81.1 percent, specificity for those without ACN was 90.4 percent, negative predictive value for those without ACN was 90.5 percent, and positive predictive value for ACN was 15.5 percent. For advanced precancerous lesions, sensitivity was 13.7 percent.

“Additional colorectal cancer screening tests that are convenient, safe, and easy to complete are needed,” Shaukat said in a statement. “Until now, we have only had stool-based tests and colonoscopy or sigmoidoscopy. A blood test has the potential for improving colorectal cancer screening rates.”

Several authors disclosed financial ties to Freenome.

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