Negative fecal tests tied to low risk for advanced colorectal cancer

There was a low risk for advanced neoplasia after multiple rounds of negative fecal immunochemical tests (FIT) in people undergoing surveillance colonoscopy, according to a study published online Jan. 4 in Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology.

Molla M. Wassie, Ph.D., from Flinders University in Bedford Park, Australia, and colleagues examined the relationship between number of rounds of negative FIT and the risk for advanced neoplasia in individuals undergoing surveillance colonoscopy. The analysis included 3,369 individuals (aged 50 to 74 years) who had completed a two-sample FIT between colonoscopies with each round having a negative result (<20 μg hemoglobin/g feces).

The researchers found that the incidence of advanced neoplasia in the cohort was 9.9 percent and decreased with increasing numbers of rounds of negative FIT results (11.1 percent after one negative FIT to 5.7 percent after four negative tests). Compared with only one negative FIT, the risk for advanced neoplasia was significantly lower in participants with three (subdistribution hazard ratio [SHR], 0.50) and four (SHR, 0.33) rounds of negative FIT.

"This supports the use of interval FIT to personalize surveillance by lengthening colonoscopy intervals following multiple negative FIT results," the authors write.

Two authors disclosed financial ties to the company that provided the fecal immunochemical tests used in the study.