title: Occult blood testing in asymptomatic patients previously resected for colorectal cancer.
abstract: Hemoccult testing was carried out in 100 patients who had previously undergone surgical resection for colorectal cancer. Of the 15 Hemoccult-positive patients detected, endoscopic examination revealed polypoid formations in six (one with invasive carcinoma) and local recurrent tumors in three. Eighteen polypoid lesions were endoscopically detected in 10 Hemoccult-negative patients. Patient acceptance was good (above 90%) for Hemoccult testing especially when compared to the significantly lower compliance to endoscopic examination (66% in Hemoccult-negative patients). The results suggest that a significant number of lesions may be missed if the Hemoccult test is heavily relied upon exclusively for follow-up of patients previously resected for colorectal cancer.
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D003082:Colectomy; D003110:Colonic Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000601:surgery; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009780:Occult Blood; D012004:Rectal Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000601:surgery; D012306:Risk