New tests screen for colon cancer risk
September 29, 2006
BALTIMORE -- Two research teams have developed tests -- free and available on the Web -- to help predict a person's risk of developing genetically inherited colon cancer. [HTML_REMOVED]
[HTML_REMOVED]One group, from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, says it validated its screening technique by testing it on 279 colon-cancer patients. [HTML_REMOVED]
Another team, from Boston's Brigham and Women's Hospital and Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, compiled its screening questionnaire after a five-year study from nearly 2,000 patients with personal or family histories involving the disease. [HTML_REMOVED]
[HTML_REMOVED]Reports of both were published this week in the Journal of the American Medical Association. [HTML_REMOVED]
[HTML_REMOVED]One problem with cancer screenings based on family history is that they require patients to provide detailed information they might not have or remember. The new tests are no exception. [HTML_REMOVED]
[HTML_REMOVED]The Hopkins test, for instance, asks patients whether there's any history of endometrial cancer among their aunts. [HTML_REMOVED]
[HTML_REMOVED]But the Hopkins technique works even if patients can't provide such details, said Sining Chen, lead researcher of the Hopkins report. "The more you know, the more accurate it is. But you don't need to know everything,' she said. [HTML_REMOVED]
[HTML_REMOVED]Experts say the screenings are an important first step in determining a patient's cancer risk. [HTML_REMOVED]
[HTML_REMOVED]Both the Hopkins test and the questionnaire developed by the Boston group give patients a likelihood -- based on a percentage figure -- that they will develop colon cancer. [HTML_REMOVED]
[HTML_REMOVED]Both methods were about 10 percent more accurate than current tests, the researchers say. [HTML_REMOVED]
[HTML_REMOVED]The new techniques are available on the Web, but the researchers recommend using them with help from a physician or a genetic or cancer counselor. [HTML_REMOVED]
[HTML_REMOVED]The Brigham and Women's Hospital questionnaire is available at dfci.org/premm. [HTML_REMOVED]
[HTML_REMOVED]The Hopkins software is available at astor.som.jhmi.edu/BayesMendel.
Comments
Post a comment
You are not currently logged in. You must log in using your Facebook account to post a comment. It's fast, easy, and we don't store any of your personal information, except your first and last name when you post a comment.
Why?
Our old comment system was abused to leave racist, sexist, fradulent, or simply useless comments. We're hoping this verification step will improve the quality of our comments.
I don't have a Facebook account. I'd like to verify my identity using my MySpace/Google/Yahoo!/OpenID/SSN/주민등록번호/MasterCard.
Let us know. We're open to suggestions. Over the next few weeks, we'll be testing other authentication methods.
The FBI/CIA/TSA/CoS/Emmert is out to get me! I need to stay anonymous!
We're working on a way to allow this. If you have any ideas, email us.
I think this website is ugly.
It's going to be a work in progress all summer, so it may look and act differently from week to week. If you want to influence this process, email us. We read every email, and respond to most of them.