Use of blood-based biomarkers for early diagnosis and surveillance of colorectal cancer

Table 2 Comparison of colorectal cancer screening tests

Test name	Cost	Procedure type	Prep?	Sensitivity	Specificity	Note	Ref.
gFOBT	$53	Stool test	Yes1	12%2 and 40%	98%	Hemoccult II	[165]
iFOBT/FIT	$223	Stool test	Yes1	22%2 and 70%	95%		[165]
Fx. Sigmoidoscopy	$500-$7503	Invasive	Yes	95%2 and 95%	92%		[165]
Colonoscopy	$800-$16003	Invasive	Yes	95%2 and 98%	90%		[165,166]
DCBE	$250-$5003	X-ray	Yes	48%2	90%	Not recommended by USPSTF	[166]
CTC	$400-$8003	CT-scan	Yes	59%2	96%	Not recommended by USPSTF	[166]
Blood-based test
ColonSentry®	$350	blood-test	No	78%	66%	GeneNews/Enzo Biochem	[66]
MiRNA (5-gene)	Est. $2504	blood-test	No	Est. 83%-91%	Est. 70%-95%
LncRNA (1-gene)	$385.005	blood-test	No	N/A	N/A
DNA methylation	Est. $2504	blood-test	No	Est. 42%-73%	Est. 42%-73%

¹Required to clean colon;

²For detecting advanced adenoma at ≥ 10 mm;

³Cost estimated from Colon Cancer Alliance website (http://www.ccalliance.org/index.html);

⁴Cost estimated based on The Valley Hospital Histology Lab charge;

⁵Cost estimated based on PCA3 test offered by GD Specialized Diagnostics. Fx. Sigmoidoscopy: Flexible Sigmoidoscopy; DCBE: Double-contrast barium enema; CTC: Computed tomographic colonography; USPSTF: United States Preventive Services Task Force; gFOBT: Guaiac-based Fecal Occult Blood Test; iFOBT: Immunochemical Fecal Occult Blood Test; FIT: Fecal Immunochemical Test; MiRNA: MicroRNA; LncRNA: Long non-coding RNA; CT: Computed tomography; N/A: Data not available; PCA3: Prostate cancer antigen 3.