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Epi proColon® for Colorectal Cancer Screening: A Profile of Its Use in the USA

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posted on 2020-06-19, 00:04 authored by Matt Shirley

Compliance with Ethical Standards

Funding The preparation of this review was not supported by any external funding.

Conflicts of interest Matt Shirley is a salaried employee of Adis International Ltd/Springer Nature, is responsible for the article content and declares no relevant conflicts of interest.

Additional information about this Adis Diagnostic Q&A article can be found here.

Abstract

Epi proColon^® is a blood-based colorectal cancer (CRC) screening test that presents a convenient, non-invasive option for CRC screening in average-risk adults aged ≥ 50 years who are otherwise non-compliant to guideline-recommended screening programs. The Epi proColon test involves the use of a real-time PCR assay to detect methylated Sept9 DNA (a biomarker for CRC) in plasma derived from a whole blood sample. Epi proColon generally performed well in prospective clinical trials, having non-inferior sensitivity for detecting CRC compared with a fecal immunochemical test (FIT). Microsimulation modeling supports annual Epi proColon testing, as for FIT. Although the Epi proColon test specificity is lower than that of a FIT, the Epi proColon test may be useful for improving participation and compliance in CRC screening, as evidenced in a small randomized controlled clinical trial which showed that uptake of an offer of an Epi proColon blood test was significantly higher than that for a FIT in subjects who were overdue for CRC screening.