Modeling Studies Evaluate Blood-Based Screening For CRC

MedPage Today (3/26, Bassett) reports, “While screening for colorectal cancer (CRC) with a blood-based test would result in better outcomes than no screening at all, it would likely result in worse outcomes than currently available tests – while increasing costs – according to two modeling studies published in Gastroenterology.” In one study, “models suggested that compared with no screening at all, a blood-based test with a minimum performance sensitivity of 74% and a specificity of 90%...would result in reduced CRC incidence and mortality and increased quality-adjusted life-years...gained for an average-risk screening population,” and “would be cost-effective,” but “when compared with other screening alternatives using three microsimulation models for CRC, blood-based testing fell short.” In the other study, investigators “used a Markov model to determine that screening every 3 years with a blood-based test meeting minimum CMS thresholds would reduce CRC incidence by 40% and mortality by 52% versus no screening.” However, “they deemed that the findings were ‘less profound’ than those seen with alternative screening methods.”