Exact Sciences' stool DNA-testing technology demonstrates 88% sensitivity for colorectal cancer

By Lisa Kerner

Erie, Pa., May 22 - Exact Sciences Corp. said results of a research study on next-generation stool DNA-testing technology demonstrated an 88% sensitivity for cancer, with a specificity of 82%.

The data were presented at the annual Digestive Disease Week conference in Los Angeles, according to a company news release.

None of the 40 individuals with colorectal cancer (CRC) or the 122 individuals with normal colonoscopies enrolled in the prospective, multicenter study had a personal or family history of polyps or CRC.

"With sensitivity for colorectal cancer approaching 90%, we believe that stool DNA testing and colonoscopy could be a powerful one-two punch in the quest to get more people screened and to reduce colon cancer mortality," president and chief executive officer Don Hardison said in the release.

Colorectal cancer is the second leading cause of cancer death each year in the United States, with more than 150,000 people diagnosed annually. The disease has a five-year survival rate as high as 90% if the disease is detected in its early stages, the company said.

Exact Sciences, based in Marlborough, Mass., uses applied genomics to develop screening technologies for use in cancer detection.

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