DNA Stool Test Detects Digestive Cancers in Multiple Organs

A noninvasive DNA stool-screening test can detect not only colorectal cancer but also the common cancers above the colon--including pancreas, stomach, biliary, and esophageal cancers.

Stool DNA testing can identify both early-stage colorectal cancer and precancerous polyps. Investigators are now studying the use of noninvasive stool DNA testing to detect lesions and cancer throughout the GI tract.

Scientists looked at throat, esophagus, stomach, pancreatic, bile duct, gallbladder, and small bowel cancers to determine if gene mutations could be detected in stool samples. Using a stool test approach developed at Mayo Clinic (Rochester, MN, USA), targeted DNA was studied from cells that are shed continuously from the surface of these cancers.

Stool tests were performed on 70 cancer patients and 70 healthy controls by technicians unaware of the sample source. The stool DNA test was positive in nearly 70% of digestive cancers but remained negative for all healthy controls, thus demonstrating the approach's feasibility.

David Ahlquist, M.D., Mayo Clinic gastroenterologist and lead investigator on the study said, "Historically, we've approached cancer screening one organ at a time. Stool DNA testing could shift the strategy of cancer screening to multiorgan, whole-patient testing and could also open the door to early detection of cancers above the colon which are currently not screened. The potential impact of this evolution could be enormous."

The team hopes that the next generation tests will have significant improvements in accuracy, processing speed, ease-of-patient use, and affordability. "We anticipate that next generation tests will also be able to predict the tumor site, which will help physicians direct diagnostic studies and minimize unnecessary procedures," commented Dr. Ahlquist.

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