Faecal haemoglobin concentration among subjects with negative FIT results is associated with the detection rate of neoplasia at subsequent rounds: a prospective study in the context of population based screening programmes in Italy.

Objective: To estimate the predictive role of faecal haemoglobin (f-Hb) concentration among subjects with faecal immunochemical test (FIT) results below the positivity cut-off for the subsequent risk of advanced neoplasia (AN: colorectal cancer-CRC-or advanced adenoma).

Design: Prospective cohort of subjects aged 50-69 years, undergoing their first FIT between 1 January 2004 and 31 December 2010 in four population-based programmes in Italy.

Methods: All programmes adopted the same analytical procedure (OC Sensor, Eiken Japan), performed every 2 years, on a single sample, with the same positivity cut-off (20 µg Hb/g faeces).

High rate of advanced adenoma detection in 4 rounds of colorectal cancer screening with the fecal immunochemical test.

Background & Aims: Few data have been published on the performance of colorectal cancer (CRC) screens that use multiple rounds of the fecal immunochemical test (FIT). We evaluated outcomes of 4 screening rounds in over 7 years in an Italian population-based program.

Methods: We conducted a prospective cohort study of 2959 average-risk subjects, aged 50-74 years, who were invited for the first screening round in 2001.