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Research Highlights
Common test misses 95 percent of serious colon growths
January 21, 2005
A test commonly used by doctors to screen for colon cancer has proved "worthless," according to VA
researcher and gastroenterologist David Lieberman, MD, who led a study involving 2,665 veterans at
13 VA medical centers. The study tested the validity of the digital fecal occult blood test (FOBT), in
which doctors obtain a single sample of stool as part of a rectal exam and check it for hidden traces of
blood, which could signal the presence of cancer or precancerous polyps. In addition to this test, the
study volunteers completed a more rigorous six-sample FOBT, providing stool samples from home.
They also received a full colonoscopy, the gold standard for diagnosing colon problems. The
colonoscopies revealed that 284 men had serious polyps. The single-sample FOBT detected only 5
percent of them, versus 24 percent for the six-sample FOBT. As a result of the research, more attention
is being focused on how primary-care physicians screen for colorectal cancer.
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