Hyderabad: Annual faecal immunochemical tests on those over 50 years can be an effective tool in screening for colorectal cancer, says a meta-analysis published in the Journal of Internal Medicine.
Early screening of colorectal cancer cases is important as it will help treat patients on time. A total of 31 studies were carried out on 1,20,255 patients to understand FIT.
It was found that FIT screening helps when the cancer is in early stages, as it was found to be moderately sensitive and helped in positive detection.
While colonoscopy is considered the golden standard for testing, there are only few people who opt for it due to the cost factors. It has been found that blood tests and stool samples are more agreeable to patients, as these are easier.
Given these practical problems, there was the need for an alternative and early screening method. FIT involves easy-to-use, non-invasive and less costly tests that researchers say will help reach out to a large number of people and help detect cases faster.
According to cancer registries in India, incidence of colorectal cancer was 4.1 to 4.4 per 1,00,000 in men and 3.9 per 1,00,000 women. Colon cancer ranks among the top eight cancers and the third major cause of cancer-related deaths. In South India, it was found to be high in Bengaluru and Thiruvananthapuram, where incidence ranged from 4.1 to 3.9 per 1,00,000.
“An effective screening programme is important to detect these cases early,” said senior oncologist Dr Shishir Shetty.
“Maximum cases are detected in stage 3 and 4. This requires aggressive treatment and most of patients are not found to recover. Immunotherapy is showing promise but the cost of treatment is too high. We need to detect the disease early and that will go a long way in improving quality of life after treatment.”
Family history of cancers, constant complaints of inflammation in the abdomen region, low fibre-high fat diet, diabetes, obesity and others are risk factors for the disease.
Screening is usually recommended for those in the age group of 50 to 75 years, as it is a slow-growing cancer.
Consultant medical oncologist Dr Narender Kumar said, “One reason why symptom go undetected is because they are not specific. There are different conditions for different people, like dark-coloured stool, change in bowel habits, stool inconsistency, constipation, recurrent diarrhoea and also blood in stools. These can occur or may not occur at all. These cases come at a very late stage and the treatment regime is very aggressive.”
With lifestyle changes and increase in geriatric population, there is a need for better screening to ensure the disease can be tackled faster.
