Company develops DNA-based home colon cancer test

(Bloomberg) — A novel colon cancer test from Exact Sciences Corp. and the Mayo Clinic using the DNA of specimens that patients collect at home detects more tumors than methods focusing on blood in the stool, a study found.

The research released yesterday by the New England Journal of Medicine shows the test is about as powerful as a colonoscopy for spotting colon cancer, the third-most common type of tumor. While the disease can be prevented by identifying and removing abnormal growths early, as many as one-third of Americans haven’t taken the recommended screening to find them.

A lab scans samples collected through the “Cologuard” test collection process for traces of tumor DNA, genetic mutations and blood.

Researchers using the Cologuard sample collection and scanning process detected 92 percent of cancers and 42 percent of advanced precancerous growths, significantly more than an older test that looks only for blood in the stool. False positives occurred in more patients, about 13 percent, with Cologuard, leading them to undergo a colonoscopy that turned up no signs of cancer.

“It really is a more sensitive noninvasive screening test for colon cancer,” said Thomas Imperiale, a study author and professor of medicine at Indiana University Medical Center in Indianapolis. “It’s ready to be used right now, or very soon once it becomes widely available, but we also need additional data.”

It’s not clear how often the test should be given, Imperiale said in a telephone interview. That information, plus the price of the screening, is needed to determine how cost- effective it will be, he said.

More than 100,000 Americans are diagnosed each year with colon cancer, and 50,000 die from the disease, according to the National Cancer Institute.