March 17, 2010 - In the State of Tennessee has one of the highest incidence rates of and mortality rates for colon cancer in the United States, and during colon cancer month, a Tennessee-based company presented state legislators with a colon cancer test that could save millions of lives and cut healthcare costs.
The colon cancer test measures a unique biomarker and a testing process utilizes ColoMarker a simple blood test. The ColoMarker test looks for a substance in blood called CA1-18. In clinical trials, in which researchers tested 2,370 blood samples, ColoMarker showed an overall accuracy rate for detecting colon cancer of 93 percent. In another early trial, researchers tested for the presence of ColoMarker in 243 blood samples from patients who had symptoms of colon cancer. They compared the results of these blood tests to results from the Fecal Occult Blood Test (FOBT). ColoMarker had a false positive rate of 11 percent compared with a false positive rate of 30 percent for FOBT.
EDP Biotech, the manufacturer of the test, says it could possibly be used on patients who otherwise would not participate in more invasive screening procedures. The company offered U.S. Legislators the opportunity to personally experience the ColoMarker test by enrolling in the control study group for EDP’s latest research.
For more information: www.edpbiotech.com
February 06, 2024 
