MONDAY, June 21 (HealthDay News) -- Colon capsule endoscopy (CCE) appears to be an effective noninvasive colorectal cancer (CRC) screening technique, as its sensitivity for polyps and significant findings compares favorably with other noninvasive CRC screening approaches, according to research published in the June issue of Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology.
In a systematic review and meta-analysis, Cristiano Spada, M.D., of Catholic University in Rome, and colleagues searched the MEDLINE, EMBASE, and SCOPUS databases from 2006 to 2009 to find studies that used CCE to detect polyps that were verified with colonoscopy.
Using eight studies that included data on 837 patients, the researchers found that the prevalence of polyps was 57 percent and the prevalence of significant findings was 27.4 percent. The sensitivity for polyps of any size with CCE was 71 percent, with a specificity of 75 percent. In addition, the sensitivity for significant findings with CCE was 68 percent, with a specificity of 82 percent. The researchers also found that CCE identified 16 of 21 cancerous lesions detected by colonoscopy, with a pooled sensitivity of 76 percent.
"CCE sensitivity for polyps seems to compare favorably with the other noninvasive options for CRC screening. CCE specificity is likely to be underestimated by the lack of unblinding of CCE results at colonoscopy," the authors conclude. "These estimates should not be projected immediately in a screening setting because most of the included studies included disease-enriched populations."
One author disclosed financial ties to Given Imaging Ltd.
Abstract
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