Amol Akhade: The Evolving Battle Between Convenience and Clinical Impact in Colorectal Cancer Screening
Amol Akhade, Consultant Medical Oncologist at Suyog Cancer Clinics, shared a post on LinkedIn:
“Colorectal Cancer Screening: The Evolving Battle Between Convenience and Clinical Impact
The rise of blood-based tests like Shield (Freenome) has brought unprecedented convenience to CRC screening. But when it comes to detecting early, curable lesions, how do these tests actually perform?
Let’s look at head-to-head data from recent studies (NEJM 2024, CRC-PREVENT, BLUE-C, ECLIPSE) comparing stool-based and blood-based platforms:
Colorectal Cancer Sensitivity:
- Cologuard Plus (stool DNA + FIT): 95%
- ColoSense (stool RNA + FIT): 94%
- Shield (cfDNA in blood): 80–83%
- FIT (fecal immunochemical): 67–91%
Advanced Adenoma Sensitivity (key for prevention):
- ColoSense: 46%
- Cologuard Plus: 43%
- FIT: 20–30%
- Shield: 13–16.4% only
High-Grade Dysplasia Sensitivity:
- Cologuard Plus: 74%
- FIT: 47%
- Shield: 23%
Specificity:
- FIT: 95%
- Shield: 90%
- Cologuard: 91–94%
- ColoSense: 88%
Key Insight:
While blood-based tests offer ease of use, they fall short in detecting precancerous lesions – the very ones we aim to catch before they progress to cancer.
Stool-based platforms like Cologuard Plus and ColoSense continue to lead in sensitivity for early disease and precancer, making them the most effective tools for true cancer prevention.
As clinicians and healthcare leaders, we must ask:
Do we prioritize comfort, or do we champion clinical outcomes?
Screening is only as powerful as its ability to detect disease before it’s too late.
Let’s not confuse detection with prevention.
Let’s choose tools that save lives, not just offer convenience.”
More posts featuring Amol Akhade.
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Challenging the Status Quo in Colorectal Cancer 2024
December 6-8, 2024
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ESMO 2024 Congress
September 13-17, 2024
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ASCO Annual Meeting
May 30 - June 4, 2024
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Yvonne Award 2024
May 31, 2024
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OncoThon 2024, Online
Feb. 15, 2024
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Global Summit on War & Cancer 2023, Online
Dec. 14-16, 2023