Colon cancer has a large preventable component through early screening and detection, and despite the general safety and tolerability of colonoscopy, many people hesitate due to the preparation required, or due to the perceived risk of the test (which is small..but real.)
Other ways we screen for cancers and polyps is through testing for microscopic blood in the bowel movement, either at the time of a rectal exam (for men…during their prostate exam, or for woman, when they have their gynecologic exam). Alternatively, these bowel screenings are done with home kits that allow the collection to be made in private. These are useful screening tools, but they are not quite adequate or equivalent colonoscopy.
Enter Colo-Guard, a new bowel kit that looks for genetic material sloughed off in the bowel movement, genetic material that is found in precancerous polyps and cancerous tissues. The latest study in the New England Journal of Medicine finds that this test, combined with the microscopic blood test, improves the value of such testing and has an accuracy that will allow for general use in the future. This is good news in the ongoing attempt to pre-empt a potentially dangerous cancer.
Read more about this study>>>>HERE.