Evaluation of Cell-Free DNA Long Fragments in the Triage of FIT+ Patients Enrolled in a Colorectal Cancer Screening Program: An Italian Prospective, Cross-Sectional Study

Abstract

Introduction: Colorectal cancer screening programs are effective in reducing incidence and mortality. In Europe, every FIT+ patient is referred to colonoscopy. The available data show that ~75.0% of these patients are negative. It is desirable to select patients at a greater risk of having a positive colonoscopy. Materials and Methods: 711 subjects, aged 50–74, attending the screening program of ASL-NA-3-SUD (Naples, Italy), were enrolled in a cross-sectional study to evaluate the performance of the QuantiDNA™ test and the non-inferiority of an alternative approach (AAP). This evaluation is based on FIT+ and QuantiDNA™+ patients referred to colonoscopy, compared to Standard of Care (SOC) colonoscopy following a FIT+ test alone. A non-inferiority margin (NIM) for colorectal neoplasia (CN) and advanced adenomas (AA) was set at −10% and at −3.8% for CRC. Results: The odds ratio was 1.76 (p-value = 0.009). The detection rate of AAP was 15.9% for colorectal neoplasia, 13.0% for advanced adenoma, and 3.0% for CRC. The risk difference between AAP and SOC was −5.07% (95% C.I. −9.23, −0.90) for colorectal neoplasia, −4.02% (95% C.I. −7.89, −0.16) for advanced adenomas, and −1.04% (95% C.I. −3.16, 1.07) for CRC. This data suggests that AAP is non-inferior to SOC for detecting CN, AA, and CRC. The expected decrease in colonoscopies is 33.4%. Conclusions: The QuantiDNA™ test is straightforward, non-invasive, and well-tolerated. Data from this study indicate that it is effective in the reduction of the need for colonoscopy examinations (−33.4%) and is non-inferior to SOC in the detection of significant colorectal lesions.

Keywords

• triage advanced adenoma patients
• molecular techniques
• liquid biopsy
• colorectal neoplasia