Six Rounds of Colorectal Cancer Screening with FIT

Long-term data on performance of fecal immunochemical tests (FITs) for colorectal cancer screening are limited. In a study from northern Italy, researchers evaluated patient participation and FIT performance in over 123,000 persons aged 50 to 69 years old who participated in up to six rounds of colorectal cancer screening with FIT. Results were as follows:

• The participation rate was 84%.

• Compliance with colonoscopy in persons with positive FITs was consistently above 90% in all screening rounds.

• The FIT positivity rate for all screening rounds was 4%.

• The cumulative FIT positivity rate over 5 consecutive screening rounds for persons aged 50 to 64 years was 18% for women and 25% for men. By age subgroup and gender, the rate ranged from 15% in wo…