title: Fecal occult blood testing for colorectal cancer. Can we afford to do this?
abstract: Fecal blood is an inherently insensitive and nonspecific marker for asymptomatic colorectal neoplasia. As such, use of fecal occult blood tests (FOBTs) necessarily limits the effectiveness and efficiency of a screening application. FOBT screening may result in a modest reduction in colorectal cancer-specific mortality, but it alters neither colorectal cancer incidence nor overall mortality. Costs resulting from FOBT screening are substantial, and the extent to which screen-induced mortality offsets any benefits remains unknown. In the absence of a clearly demonstrated net benefit with FOBT screening, affordability of this expensive effort can be legitimately questioned.
authors.affiliation: Mayo Medical School, Rochester, Minnesota, USA.
authors.forename: D A
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Ahlquist
mesh_terms: D015179:Colorectal Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000191:economics / Q000401:mortality / Q000517:prevention & control*; D006801:Humans; D008403:Mass Screening / Q000191:economics; D009780:Occult Blood; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity