Qualitative Fecal Immunochemical Test as a Screening Test for Colorectal Cancer

Abstract

Colorectal cancer is one of the most common cancers, causing mortality, morbidity, and economic burden. Patient survival differs due to differences in access to health facilities, as well as diagnostic and therapeutic modalities. Early detection can allow colorectal cancer to be diagnosed at an earlier stage, improving patient outcomes and lowering mortality. Due to the lack of a national screening program in Indonesia, as well as the uneven availability of colonoscopy tools, the fecal immunochemical test has become the preferred screening method. This cross-sectional study aims to validate the application of the fecal immunochemical test for colorectal cancer detection. Fecal immunochemical test examination is performed on all patients with suspected colorectal cancer who will undergo a colonoscopy examination at Prof. Hospital dr. I.G.N.G. Ngoerah, Bali, Indonesia. Histopathological examination is used to diagnose colorectal cancer. This study included 78 people with a colorectal cancer prevalence of 40.91%. There were 38(57.6%) subjects with positive fecal immunochemical test results in this study, and 25(65.6%) of them were diagnosed with colorectal cancer. The sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, and negative predictive value of the qualitative fecal immunochemical test in detecting colorectal cancer were 92.59%, 66.67%, 65.79%, and 92.86%, respectively. The qualitative fecal immunochemical test has high sensitivity and can be used as an objective and accurate method of screening symptomatic patients with suspected CRC for colonoscopy.