Comparison of clinically available non-invasive screening tests for colorectal cancer
| Screening tool | Sample | Detection target | Sensitivity (%) (95% CI) | Specificity (%) (95% CI) | Sensitivity to advanced adenoma (%) (95% CI) | Cost (US$) |
| gFOBT | Faeces | Haemoglobin | 39 (25 to 55)107 | 94% (91 to 98)107 | – | Euro$1.36-2.04 108 |
| FIT**‡ | Faeces | Haemoglobin | 82 (63-92)16 | 93 (91-95)16 | 30 (25-34)16 | Euro$ 3-4.5108 |
| mt-sDNA (Cologuard) | Faeces | NDRG4 and BMP3 DNA methylation, KRAS mutations and haemoglobin | 92.3 (DNA testing); 73.8 (FIT)72 | 89.8 (DNA testing); 96.4 (FIT)72 | 42.4 (DNA testing); 23.8 (FIT)72 | US$600109 |
| mSEPT9 (Epi ProColon) | Plasma | SEPT9 DNA methylation | 61.8 (53-69.9)110 | 89.6 (83-93.8)110 | 27.4 (18.7-37.6)111 | US$192112 |
| Bacterial biomarker LR4+FIT* (M3CRC) | Faeces | Microbial markers and haemoglobin | 94†27 | 81†27 | 56.8†27 (m3+FIT) | 250† |
*LR4 is a combination of Fusobacterium nucleatum, a Lachnoclostridium species m3, Bacteroides clarus and Clostridium hathewayi.
†Data on file.
‡Threshold at 20 microgram/gram or above
FIT, faecal immunochemical test; gFOBT, guaiac based faecal occult based test; mt-sDNA, multi-target stool DNA.