New Hope for Preventing Colon Cancer
There is a good news for patients with colon cancer. A fecal occult blood test (FOBT) is an easy blood tests that can be applied at home and is specifically designed to detect colon cancer at an early stage. FOBT Hemoccult ICT is a new test but safe and affordable. Screening options done to detect the cause of colon cancer. Despite the high incidence, colon cancer is a cancer that can be treated, with 90 percent of survival patients rate if can be detected at earliest.
The American Cancer Society recommends screening with FOBT for men and women aged 50 years. Annual colon cancer screening with FOBT has been shown to reduce mortality by 33 percent when compared with no screening. Because colon cancer develops within 3 to 10 years or even more, it is important to do the screening before symptoms develop into cancer.
For colon cancer patients, the big questions is what should be choose, do the FOBT or Colonoscopy. For years, colonoscopy has become the most famous test for colon cancer screening. Colonoscopy does have some shortcomings:
- Colonoscopy cost of $ 300 – $ 1,000. Quite expensive.
- Operational standard of colonoscopy has too many procedures. Patients are required to follow a special diet and take strong laxatives before doing the test.
- Lack of trained experts to conduct tests and minimal equipment. Colonoscopy only able to accommodate a quarter of all people who require testing.
Unlike FOBT, Hemoccult ICT is a new way to do the early test without medication and diet, providing another option to detect symptoms of colon cancer. If the test shows positive results, then the colonoscopy would be advisable.