TY - JOUR
AU - Maeda, Yasuko
AU - Gray, E.
AU - Figueroa, Jonine D.
AU - Hall, Peter S.
AU - Weller, David
AU - Dunlop, Malcolm G.
AU - Din, Farhat V.N.
PY - 2021
DA - July
TI - Risk of missing colorectal cancer with a COVID-adapted diagnostic pathway using quantitative faecal immunochemical testing
JO - BJS Open
DO - https://doi.org/10.1093/bjsopen/zrab056
AB - Background: COVID-19 has brought an unprecedented challenge to healthcare services. The authors’ COVID-adapted pathway for suspected bowel cancer combines two quantitative faecal immunochemical tests (qFITs) with a standard CT scan with oral preparation (CT mini-prep). The aim of this study was to estimate the degree of risk mitigation and residual risk of undiagnosed colorectal cancer. Method: Decision-tree models were developed using a combination of data from the COVID-adapted pathway (April–May 2020), a local audit of qFIT for symptomatic patients performed since 2018, relevant data (prevalence of colorectal cancer and sensitivity and specificity of diagnostic tools) obtained from literature and a local cancer data set, and expert opinion for any missing data. The considered diagnostic scenarios included: single qFIT; two qFITs; single qFIT and CT mini-prep; two qFITs and CT mini-prep (enriched pathway). These were compared to the standard diagnostic pathway (colonoscopy or CT virtual colonoscopy (CTVC)). Results: The COVID-adapted pathway included 422 patients, whereas the audit of qFIT included more than 5000 patients. The risk of missing a colorectal cancer, if present, was estimated as high as 20.2 per cent with use of a single qFIT as a triage test. Using both a second qFIT and a CT mini-prep as add-on tests reduced the risk of missed cancer to 6.49 per cent. The trade-off was an increased rate of colonoscopy or CTVC, from 287 for a single qFIT to 418 for the double qFIT and CT mini-prep combination, per 1000 patients. Conclusion: Triage using qFIT alone could lead to a high rate of missed cancers. This may be reduced using CT mini-prep as an add-on test for triage to colonoscopy or CTVC.
PB - Oxford University Press
UR - https://eprints.gla.ac.uk/297496/
KW - Coronavirus (COVID-19)
ER