Key clinical point: Fecal immunochemical testing (FIT) at a threshold of ≥10 μg of hemoglobin per gram of feces safely triaged primary care patients with low-risk symptoms, with negative results effectively ruling out colorectal cancer (CRC).
Major finding: The sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, and negative predictive value of FIT for CRC detection at a fecal hemoglobin cutoff of ≥10 μg/g were 91.1% (95% CI 77.9%-97.1%), 80.7% (95% CI 79.3%-82.0%), 5.8% (95% CI 4.2%-7.8%), and 99.9% (95% CI 99.60%-99.95%), respectively, and the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve was 0.93 (95% CI 0.91-0.96).
Study details : This study included 3506 low-risk symptomatic adult patients managed in primary care who were referred for FIT.
Disclosures: This study was supported by the South Yorkshire, Bassetlaw & North Derbyshire Cancer Alliance, UK . The authors declared no conflicts of interest.
Source: Ball AJ et al. Fecal immunochemical testing in patients with low-risk symptoms of colorectal cancer: A diagnostic accuracy study. J Natl Compr Canc Netw. 2022;20(9):989-996.e1 (Sep). Doi: 10.6004/jnccn.2022.7037