Clinical Epidemiology (Aug 2017)
Comment on “Fecal occult blood versus DNA testing: indirect comparison in a colorectal cancer screening population”
Abstract
David A Ahlquist Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, USAChallenges to medical innovation are welcome and essential elements in the dialectic toward practice optimization but must be based on scientifically sound criticism. A multi-target stool DNA test (MT-sDNA) has emerged as a new approach to colorectal cancer (CRC) screening, and in the US, it is approved by federal regulatory bodies, endorsed in societal screening guidelines, and covered by government and private insurers. In their recent paper,1 Brenner and Chen concluded that CRC screening sensitivity by fecal immunochemical test (FIT) for occult blood is equal to or better than that of MT-sDNA when tests are compared at matched specificity. However, concerns can be raised regarding their methodology and data.Authors’ reply Hermann Brenner1–3 Hongda Chen1,41Division of Clinical Epidemiology and Aging Research, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), 2Division of Preventive Oncology, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), National Center for Tumor Diseases (NCT), 3German Cancer Consortium (DKTK), German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Heidelberg, Germany; 4Program Office for Cancer Screening in Urban China, National Cancer Center/Cancer Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Chaoyang District, Beijing, People’s Republic of ChinaWe appreciate Dr. Ahlquist’s interest in our article1 that challenges his previously disseminated claim that the multitarget stool DNA test (MSDT) represents “the new high bar benchmark for noninvasive CRC screening”.2View the original paper by Brenner and Chen.
