Research reported in the January 31, 2002 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine is generating excitement over the potential for a new, non-invasive method for colon cancer screening. The article reports that an initial feasibility study has demonstrated that mutations in the APC gene, a gene linked with colorectal cancer, can be detected by analyzing the DNA from patients’ stool samples. Results of the study suggest that the method can achieve a high rate of success in identifying when cancer is present, even in its early stages, while keeping false-positives low.

The novel approach is based on the 1991 discovery of the APC gene and its role in the development of colorectal cancer. Researchers include Bert Vogelstein and Kenneth Kinzler of the Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center at The Johns Hopkins University, members of the team that discovered the APC gene. In a related article in the British medical journal, The Lancet, the researchers report on the use of the gene BAT26 in a non-invasive method of detecting colorectal cancers in average-risk patients. Vogelstein believes that the two tests together might detect up to 80 percent of the cancers.

Colon cancer takes the lives of approximately 48,000 people in the U.S. each year but can be treated and potentially cured if caught in its early stages. Current methods for early detection include colonoscopy, which is an invasive procedure, and tests for fecal occult blood, which have been associated with a high rate of false-positive and false-negative results. For example, it may miss colorectal cancers if there is no bleeding at the time of the test or may detect bleeding from other causes, such as polyps.