Impact of changing from a guaiac faecal occult blood test to a faecal immunochemical test in a national screening programme: Results from a pilot study within the national bowel cancer screening programme in England.

Objective: Testing for occult blood in faeces is widely used in bowel cancer screening around the world. In many programmes, the faecal immunochemical test (FIT) is replacing the traditional guiaic faecal occult blood test (gFOBT). There have been a number of reports on the clinical impact of making this change; yet, no-one has considered the pre-analytical and analytical impact of moving from a gFOBT to a FIT bowel cancer screening programme.

Assessment of the analytical performance of point-of-care faecal immunochemical tests for haemoglobin.

Background: The faecal immunochemical test (FIT) detects the presence of haemoglobin (Hb) in faeces. It is used as a screening tool for colorectal cancer (CRC) and increasingly to triage patients presenting with symptoms of CRC. A number of quantitative point-of-care (POC) FIT systems marketed for professional use and intended for use in a clinical setting are available.

Analytical evaluation of four faecal immunochemistry tests for haemoglobin.

Objectives: Faecal immunochemical tests (FIT) for haemoglobin (Hb) are being used in the investigation of colorectal cancer. These tests use antibodies raised to the globin moiety of human Hb. Here, four automated quantitative FIT systems (HM-JACKarc, NS-Prime, OC-Sensor PLEDIA and SENTiFIT 270) are evaluated analytically to confirm whether the performance of the systems meet the manufacturers' claims.

An assessment of the effect of haemoglobin variants on detection by faecal immunochemical tests.

Background Faecal immunochemical tests (FIT) for haemoglobin (Hb) are being used in the investigation of colorectal cancer. These tests use antibodies raised to the globin moiety of human Hb. Where the globin structure is abnormal or reduced, it is possible that antibody binding, and thus Hb-detection may be affected.

Tests and investigations for colorectal cancer screening.

Worldwide, colorectal (CRC) is the third most common form of cancer, after lung and breast cancer, and the fourth most common cause of cancer death, although in developed countries CRC incidence is higher and it accounts for an even higher proportion of cancer deaths. Successful treatment of early-stage CRC confers substantial survival advantage, and there is now overwhelming evidence that screening average-risk individuals for CRC reduces the incidence and disease-specific mortality. In spite of considerable research for new biomarkers for CRC, the detection of blood in faeces remains the most effective screening tool.