Association of FOBT-assessed faecal Hb content with colonic lesions detected in the Florence screening programme.
We assessed the correlation between quantitative results of immunological faecal occult blood testing (I-FOBT) and colonic lesions (191 colorectal cancers, 890 adenomas) detected at colonoscopy in 2597 FOBT+ (cutoff 100 ng ml(-1) Hb) subjects. At univariate analysis, a higher average faecal Hb content was significantly associated with male gender (P=0.003), age (P=0.02), and colonoscopy findings (P=0.000). Among adenomas, higher faecal Hb content was significantly associated with size (P=0.0000), presence of severe dysplasia (P=0.0001), presence of villous component (P=0.0002), and location in the left colon (P=0.003). At multivariate analysis adjusting for potential confounders, age (P=0.03), size (P=0.0000), and location in the left colon (P=0.0005) were confirmed as having an independent association with higher faecal Hb content. Immunological FOBT is confirmed to be a specific screening test to detect cancer and adenoma, with a low positivity rate (3.7%) and a high positive predictive value (41.5%). Faecal Hb content is significantly higher for those lesions (cancer and high-risk adenomas) screening is aimed at detecting.
Ciatto
S
S
Centro per lo Studio e la Prevenzione Oncologica, Viale Volta 171, 50131 Firenze, Italy. s.ciatto@cspo.it
Martinelli
F
F
Castiglione
G
G
Mantellini
P
P
Rubeca
T
T
Grazzini
G
G
Bonanomi
A G
AG
Confortini
M
M
Zappa
M
M
D000368:Aged; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D015179:Colorectal Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000517:prevention & control; D005243:Feces / Q000737:chemistry*; D005260:Female; D006454:Hemoglobins / Q000032:analysis*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008403:Mass Screening / Q000379:methods*; D008875:Middle Aged; D009780:Occult Blood
D006454:Hemoglobins