ORIGINAL CONTRIBUTIONS: COLON/SMALL BOWEL

FIT: A Valuable but Underutilized Screening Test for Colorectal Cancer—It's Time for a Change

Allison, James E MD1,2

Author Information

1Division of Research, Kaiser Permanente, Northern California, Oakland, California, USA

2Division of Gastroenterology, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco General Hospital Campus, San Francisco, California, USA

Correspondence: James E. Allison, MD, Division of Gastroenterology UCSF, San Francisco General Hospital Campus, 1001 Potrero Avenue, NH-3D, San Francisco, California 94110, USA. E-mail: [email protected]

Received 2 February 2010; accepted 25 March 2010

American Journal of Gastroenterology 105(9):p 2026-2028, September 2010. | DOI: 10.1038/ajg.2010.181

Abstract

 

Although fecal immunochemical tests (FITs) have been used for colorectal cancer (CRC) screening in several countries for years, this has not been the case in the United States. The reasons for this are multifactorial, but if the United States hopes to increase screening rates, the evidence is in regarding FIT's benefits and potential. A publication in this issue of theAmerican Journal of Gastroenterologyprovides “gold standard” evidence of its superiority over the standard guaiac test and opens opportunities for investigators to discover the most effective uses of this test for population screening.

© The American College of Gastroenterology 2010. All Rights Reserved.

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