One of the suckier things about getting old is colon cancer screening. The good news is that there’s a new option and it’s approved by Medicare.[1]
Supposedly, “[t]he [new] test, called Shield, is expected to launch commercially within the next week and will join other types of colon and rectal cancer screening methods – including colonoscopies and at-home stool tests – as options that health care providers can offer their patients. A simple blood test may be more convenient for some patients while colonoscopies can feel invasive, or at-home stool tests can feel awkward.”[2]
A colonoscopy requires general anesthesia and a trip to the hospital. General anesthesia means a “responsible adult” will need to accompany the patient, at least driving them back home. My nurse practitioner trusted a colonoscopy over the stool test, at least for the initial test, but the logistics seemed daunting, so I’ve actually never had this done.
The at-home stool test (in my experience, Exact Sciences’ Cologuard) requires that stools not exceed a particular size—um, how do you know how big your shit will be? And what horribly disgusting gross thing are you going to have to do if it’s too large? Everything about this has to be done just so, by people who lack training with tolerances that seem a lot less specific when they’re actually following them. And all this for a test with high-seeming false positive and false negative rates.
Unfortunately, the blood test will only be about as reliable as the stool test.[3] But I always feel really weird about taking a package of literal shit and handing it over the counter to be shipped to Exact Sciences, so yeah, I’m gonna want to do the blood test next time.
Oh, and I can’t wait to see Exact Sciences’ spiel trying to persuade me to do the stool test again. Just can’t wait.
[1] Jacqueline Howard, “FDA approves blood test for colorectal cancer screening among average-risk adults in the US,” Cable News Network, July 29, 2024, https://www.cnn.com/2024/07/29/health/fda-colorectal-cancer-screening-blood-test/index.html
[2] Jacqueline Howard, “FDA approves blood test for colorectal cancer screening among average-risk adults in the US,” Cable News Network, July 29, 2024, https://www.cnn.com/2024/07/29/health/fda-colorectal-cancer-screening-blood-test/index.html
[3] Jacqueline Howard, “FDA approves blood test for colorectal cancer screening among average-risk adults in the US,” Cable News Network, July 29, 2024, https://www.cnn.com/2024/07/29/health/fda-colorectal-cancer-screening-blood-test/index.html