Fecal Occult Blood Test Results of the National Colorectal Cancer Screening Program in South Korea (2006–2013)

Abstract

There has been controversy regarding the clinical utility of fecal occult blood test (FOBT) as a screening tool for colorectal cancer (CRC) in the general population. The purpose of this study was to examine the results of Korea national CRC screening using FOBT from 2006 to 2013 and to evaluate the implementation of the program. We analyzed the results of FOBT, colonoscopy, and the side effects during colonoscopy for the subjects (n = 20,609,909) from the Korea National Health Insurance Cancer Screening database. For evaluation of Korea national CRC screening program implementation over the 8-year period, we calculated uptake rate, FOBT positivity rate, and subsequent test compliance rate. The overall uptake rate was 30.1%, with an increasing pattern from 2006 to 2011. A relatively higher FOBT positivity rate (6.4%) and lower subsequent test compliance rate (46.6%) were observed in comparison to the results previously reported in Western countries. Side effects reported within 3 months period after colonoscopy accounted for 0.17% of all procedures, with bleeding being the most prevalent type. Although the implementation of CRC screening program using FOBT in Korea seems successful, trends in key indicators for Korea national CRC screening program should be monitored continuously.

Clinical Significance of Gender and Body Mass Index in Asian Patients with Colorectal Cancer

“…This finding is consistent with most of the related reports 8, 35-37. Differences in lifestyle and eating habits 38-42, and differences in screening rates are possible explanations 30, 43, but further research is needed to find the reason for this result.…”

Integrated analysis of colorectal cancer microRNA datasets: identification of microRNAs associated with tumor development

“…The main critical aspects for the management of colorectal cancer are the high rate of tumor relapses after surgery and the frequent and invasive diagnostic tests performed during the follow-up. Other issues are related to the high costs and the low compliance rates of colonoscopy [ 21 ] and the low specificity and sensitivity of the screening tests, such as the faecal occult blood test or the detection of CEA and CA 19.9 biomarkers, which often fail to early identify CRC tumor lesions [ 22 , 23 ].…”

Effectiveness of a short message service intervention to motivate people with positive results in preliminary colorectal cancer screening to undergo colonoscopy: A randomized controlled trial

“…Colonoscopy adherence in the population with positive preliminary screening results determines the effectiveness of CRC screening and early diagnosis. However, unsatisfactory levels of colonoscopy adherence have been reported in some studies, and even lower adherence has been reported in China . From 2012 to 2013, data from 14 cities in China showed that among high‐risk urban residents with positive results on preliminary screening with questionnaires, only 33.25% underwent colonoscopy .…”