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Business Insider
23-07-2025
- Health
- Business Insider
Colonoscopies are no fun. These at-home colon cancer screenings offer a shortcut.
Colon cancer is the second-deadliest cancer in America. It's not deadly because it's particularly hard to treat or because oncologists are bad at spotting it. In large part, it's because people aren't getting their colon checked out often enough. Only about 1 in 5 adults who are between the ages of 45 and 49 is up to date on their colon cancer screening (older adults fare better, with around 7 in 10 completing it). "This is a highly preventable disease and we have to change the status quo so that people don't die," Dr. Paul Limburg, a gastroenterologist and chief medical officer at Exact Sciences, the company that makes one of the most popular do-it-yourself colon cancer screening tests, told Business Insider. A colonoscopy is still the most reliable tool, both for spotting colon cancer and for serving double duty as a colon-cleanup service. "I would still choose a colonoscopy for myself," Dr. Tim Cannon, a medical oncologist who directs the gastrointestinal cancer program at the Inova Schar Cancer Institute, told BI. "It is considered the gold standard, you can detect precancerous polyps and take them out during the procedure, and you can do it less often" than DIY tests, Cannon said. However, a new suite of at-home tests is rapidly expanding. For those struggling to find an appointment, those who don't have great insurance, or those who are just squeamish about colonoscopies, there are some pretty painless precursors you can do to check things out. Some recently-approved tests check your blood or your stool for signs that something is awry. One highly anticipated test, which isn't out yet, may require nothing more than your breath. The budget-friendly original: an at-home FIT test The fecal immunochemical test (aka FIT) has been around since the 1980s and is still a recommended screening tool today because it's cheap, relatively reliable, and requires no preparation. "Fecal-immuno test is the most inexpensive," Dr. Asad Umar previously told BI. "People don't like to do it, because — maybe it's the 'yuck' factor — but this could be lifesaving." You typically perform the FIT in your bathroom after a bowel movement by collecting some stool out of the toilet bowl with a brush. After the kit is sent to the lab, it will be checked for hidden blood in the stool — an early colon cancer symptom. Since colon cancers don't constantly let out blood in your stool, the test isn't perfect. FIT is about 75% accurate at detecting colon cancer cases, and a smaller number of people (about 1 in 20) may get a false positive result when they don't have colon cancer. The pooper scooper: Cologuard stool testing Like FIT, Cologuard is a stool test that you do in the bathroom, and then send into a lab for testing. Unlike FIT, Cologuard looks for both blood and cancerous DNA in your poop. Adding DNA to the mix makes Cologuard more successful: it picks up more than 9 in 10 colon cancer cases, and can flag some precancerous polyps. The downside is that Cologuard also sometimes flags poop samples that aren't cancerous, with roughly 1 in 10 patients receiving a false positive test reading. Anne Jones, a collegiate athlete career coach, was 46 when she first tried Cologuard. She knew that more women her age were being diagnosed with late-stage colon cancers, but she was hesitating about when to schedule her first colonoscopy. Did she really need to do this right now? A colonoscopy procedure requires several hours of prep work at home, emptying out your colon with heavy-duty laxatives. It's performed under anesthesia, so you need someone to pick you up from the hospital afterward. "It was less the fear of the colonoscopy and more just the hassle," Jones said. When her doctor explained she could order a Cologuard test and do it on her own at home with zero prep, it seemed like a no-brainer. "The doer in me is like 'great, let's do it.' I want to get this done. Cross it off the list." Crossing her colon cancer screening "off the list" ended up taking a few more steps, though, because Jones's Cologuard test came back positive. Within a few months, Jones went in for a colonoscopy, which found and removed multiple pre-cancerous polyps in her colon. "It was not cancer, but there were three polyps that were pre-cancerous," Jones said. She said she's glad she was given the nudge to go under, though. "It just begs the question, if I had waited a year, might that have been different?" Cologuard, made by Exact Sciences, was first approved in 2014. In late 2024, the US Food and Drug Administration approved Cologuard Plus, which is more accurate than the regular Cologuard test and detects around 95% of colon cancers. The blood draw: Guardant Guardant Health has a new cancer screening test that skips the toilet and goes straight to your blood, analyzing your DNA for tell-tale clues that cancer could be lurking. "What you're detecting is an abnormal molecule that is only created by a cancer," Guardant's Chief Medical Officer Dr. Craig Eagle told BI. "The more we learn what that looks like, the more we can actually find smaller and smaller amounts." Guardant's first colon cancer blood test, called Shield, was FDA-approved in July 2024. It's part of the company's suite of "liquid biopsies" that use blood to help doctors gain insights about cancer, whether for cancer diagnosis or in later stages to inform cancer treatment decisions. Guardant CEO Helmy Eltoukhy told BI he hopes that Shield can soon be harnessed to identify even more cancers, including some that are notoriously hard to detect, like pancreatic cancer. One federally funded study is recruiting 24,000 people across the US to test out Shield on multiple cancers. "That's the beauty of this test: think of it as your iPhone, where initially it only had a few features. Over time, it has a thousand features," Eltoukhy told BI. Patricia James, now 77, was one of the first patients to try Shield in Guardant's pivotal clinical trial that ultimately led to its FDA approval last year. As a cancer survivor with a family history of colon cancer, she is a big believer in preventative care. But she doesn't really like colonoscopies, having had a rare but really bad experience during her first, when she woke up halfway through the procedure, and started "crashing around" on the operating table. After that, she said, she essentially swore off colonoscopies. She's getting older and has a greater risk of internal tearing and other rare complications from the procedure. So when her doctor mentioned there was a blood test available to screen for colon cancer, she said "sure." "There was no extra doctor's visit or anything," James told BI. She did it while she was in for a regular mammogram visit. She's now a huge advocate for the test, and even gave video testimony to Congress before it was FDA-approved. "Look, I don't ever wanna mess around with my health, I've lost people to cancer and I battled it myself," she told the lawmakers. "I'm someone who wants all the time in the world to keep living. I have sung the praises of this test to friends and look forward to getting it again." Like the other screening tests mentioned here, Shield does have a risk of false-positive and false-negative results, but those inaccuracies decrease as cancer progresses. In other words, the further along cancer is, the better the test is at detecting it. Method: Blood How often: Once every three years Cost: Generally covered by insurance for those over 45, and by Medicare for older adults. The test costs around $1,500 out-of-pocket. Pros: No poop involved Cons: Requires a doctor's visit to collect blood. Also,roughly 1 of every 10 patients who don't have colon cancer may receive a false positive result, and 1 in 6 who do have cancer may receive a false negative. The breath test for colon cancer Imagine that instead of collecting blood or poop to screen for colon cancer, all you have to do is breathe out for a few minutes. Several companies, in the UK, US, Canada, and Israel are working on innovative cancer screening tests that would pick up on volatile organic compounds in your breath. It's essentially like an emissions test for cancer. While none of these are available yet, the Israeli-based startup SpotitEarly is hoping to make its test available to consumers in the US as early as 2026, if all goes well with FDA regulators. A company-sponsored study published in November suggests the test is about 86% effective at picking up early-stage colon cancer cases (Stage 1 and 2).
Yahoo
10-03-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
FDRHPO promotes colorectal cancer screening via regional partnerships
FORT DRUM, N.Y. (WWTI) – Fort Drum Regional Health Planning Organization is nearing the successful completion of an 18-month grant from Exact Sciences to help provide colorectal cancer screenings. Exact Sciences is a leading provider of cancer screening and diagnostic tests, to improve colorectal cancer screening rates and make healthcare more accessible throughout the north country region. James Van Der Beek of 'Dawson's Creek' shares cancer diagnosis The grant promoted colorectal cancer screenings among marginalized elderly, low-income, and disabled populations throughout New York's rural Jefferson, Lewis, and St. Lawrence counties by supporting the region's primary care practices in identifying and outreaching eligible patients and promoting awareness of colorectal cancer screening through a multimedia campaign. The grant was made possible through Exact Sciences' Funding Opportunities for Colorectal Cancer Screening Uptake Strategies Program, which provides funding to community organizations, health foundations, public health organizations, and advocacy groups working to increase access to colorectal cancer screening. Exact Sciences developed Cologuard, the first and only FDA-approved, noninvasive, multi-target, stool-based DNA screening test that people can use at home. Colorectal cancer is one of the most preventable cancers, yet approximately 60 million average-risk Americans remain unscreened. Awareness and access are critical to increasing screening participation, and Exact Sciences is honored to support these organizations that are driving screening uptake and addressing inequities within their communities. Paul Limburg, Chief Medical Officer of screening, at Exact Sciences FDRHPO utilized data provided by Medicare and Managed Medicaid insurers to identify patients in the region who were due for colorectal cancer screening and worked with 11 primary care partners to outreach patients and track screening completion. FDRHPO Communication's Committee also collaborated with other primary healthcare, inpatient, behavioral healthcare, and social care providers in the region to develop a marketing campaign. The campaign included messaging that screening generally starts at age 45; both men and women need to be screened; when caught early enough, roughly 90 percent of those diagnosed will successfully treat it; and that individuals should talk to their healthcare provider to determine which screening option is best for them. The primary project goal was to complete 1,250 colorectal cancer screenings among the target population; at the time of writing, FDRHPO and its partners have exceeded the goal, having completed nearly 1,500 screenings. FDRHPO houses a collection of educational graphics about colorectal cancer screening on its website at providers and the general public are invited to utilize and share these at no cost. In addition to the colorectal cancer screening grant, FDRHPO and NCI collaborate with partners to impact a host of regional health behaviors and outcomes. Examples of collaborative regional initiatives include: A separately funded project to promote breast cancer screening through the use of mobile mammography equipment in community 'hotspot' locations; A three-year initiative to place community health workers in primary care practices to promote a range of preventive and chronic care among North Country patients; Financial and technical support to primary care and behavioral care partners to provide transitional and chronic care management services to Medicaid-insured populations, for whom such services are not otherwise available. Recent analysis indicated that transitional care management services for Medicaid-insured patients in the region are linked to a 40% reduction in 90-day post-discharge healthcare costs, 14% lower inpatient readmission rates, and a 36% increase in documentation of social care needs; Regional media campaigns, such as 'Call Us First' which encourages people to contact their primary care team for minor acute needs, and 'Healthy Habits' which encourages people to re-engage in primary and preventive care, notably annual wellness visits, recommended screenings, dental/oral care, and immunizations; Adoption of a standardized screening tool that clinical and behavioral providers use to identify social needs among those they serve, document identified needs and make 'closed loop' referrals to relevant services; A qualitative and quantitative research project to uncover perspectives and trends about accessing and experiencing primary care among elderly, low-income, and/or disabled regional residents, with recommended action steps for primary care, behavioral healthcare, and health insurance providers; Provision of trainings to clinical, behavioral, and social care staff to improve understanding of, relationships with, and strategies to impact their patient populations; Implementation of multiple value-based payment arrangements, whereby groups of clinical and behavioral partners collaboratively seek to steward the healthcare costs and improve quality measure compliance among more than 26,000 patients in the region; and Financial awards to more than a dozen clinical, behavioral, and social care organizations since 2021 to pilot or conduct 'promising practice' interventions, including projects to reduce fall risk among elderly or disabled individuals; increase management of high blood pressure and diabetes; use telemedicine and remote patient monitoring to treat behavioral and substance use needs and better manage patients with chronic conditions; deploy community health workers to connect people to clinical and social resources; and promote transitional and chronic care management, childhood immunizations, and well-child visits. 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