A recent prospective, multicenter study highlights the potential of the syndecan-2 methylation (mSDC2) stool-based test to significantly improve colorectal cancer (CRC) and advanced colorectal neoplasia (ACN) detection.
Conducted on 10,360 participants aged 45-75 years, the study found that mSDC2 had higher detection rates for CRC and ACN compared to the fecal immunochemical test (FIT) and the Asia-Pacific Colorectal Screening (APCS) scores.
Notably, mSDC2-positive participants had a 26.6% detection rate for ACN, compared to 9.3% in those who tested negative.
The test also reduced the number of colonoscopies needed to detect ACN and CRC by over 50%, making it a cost-effective option.
The study suggests that mSDC2 could complement existing screening methods, enhancing diagnostic accuracy and reducing the colonoscopy workload in clinical practice.