This is the first study to evaluate this tool’s effectiveness in specific racial groups.
As one of the largest at-home screening programs in the United States, Kaiser Permanente has been a leader in applying at-home colorectal cancer screening to increase overall screening guideline compliance and improve racial disparity gaps.
“The right screening test is the one that gets done – and is done well. All though we have known for decades that colorectal cancer can be caught in its earliest, precancerous state through screening, only about 60% of Americans 45-75 years old are up to date with screening,” said Dr. Chyke Doubeni, senior author of the study. “This is a tragedy because we could save many more lives by making screening more accessible through non-invasive screening methods like FIT.” .
Doubeni said some people may not get screening coloscopy due to fear or embarrassment, which results in many people being diagnosed with the disease at more advanced, less treatable stages.
“The evidence shows that FIT done every year is as good as getting a colonoscopy every 10 years for screening people of average risk,” he said. “This study should give individuals and their clinicians the confidence to use this noninvasive test for screening and find ways to deploy these tests in underserved communities where colorectal cancer screening rates are very low.”
Doubeni added it’s critical for anyone with a positive test to not delay getting a colonoscopy to follow up on an abnormal FIT result.
A coloscopy screening involves a thin tube with a tiny camera tip is inserted in the rectum to view the intestinal lining. Precancerous polyps can then be removed at the time of the procedure and early cancers are treated before getting to advance stage, according to the release. FIT involves a stool sample that is collected at home and mailed to the laboratory where it is tested.
Researchers evaluated information in the study from 10,711 people who completed a FIT screening for colorectal cancer screening with those between the ages of 52 and 85 were identified across multiple medical centers between 2002 and 2017, the release said.
In addition to “reducing the risk of colorectal cancer-related death by 33%, researchers observed a 42% lower risk for cancers occurring on the left side of the colon inclusive of rectal cancers,” the release said. FIT screening was also associated with lower risk of colorectal cancer death among non-Hispanic Asian, non-Hispanic Black and non-Hispanic White people.
According to the American Cancer Society, Black patients are 20% more likely to be diagnosed with colon cancer and 40% more likely to die of the disease compared to non-Hispanic white patients. People in the Appalachian region also have disproportionally high rates of death from colorectal cancer.
“Colorectal cancer screening works and is one of the best ways of decreasing deaths from colorectal cancer. This study, of at least one FIT screening in the last few years, confirms this method is an effective tool,” Douglas Corley, MD, PhD, a co-principal investigator and the chief research officer from Kaiser Permanente, Northern California, said. “It can be performed at home, and we anticipate that regular, annual use, as recommended, can result in even larger reductions in cancer deaths over time. In our setting, providing multiple methods for cancer screening has increased participation to over 80%, which has been associated with approximately a 50% reduction in colorectal cancer deaths.”
The Wexner Medical Center and the OSUCCC – James launched a pilot program in 2022 to provide at-home colorectal cancer screening tests that is now also offered in the primary care clinics. The program is a first step in broader implementation to increase to screening.
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