The Use of M2-Pyruvate Kinase as a Stool Biomarker for Detection of Colorectal Cancer in Tertiary Teaching Hospital: A Comparative Study

PURPOSE: Guaiac fecal occult blood test (gFOBT) has been the standard for colorectal screening but it has low sensitivity and specificity. This study evaluated the use of fecal tumor M2-pyruvate kinase (M2-PK) for detection of colorectal cancer and to compare with the current surveillance tool; gFOBT in symptomatic adult subjects underwent colonoscopy.

METHODS: Stool samples were collected prospectively from symptomatic adults who had elective colonoscopy from September 2014 to January 2016 and were analyzed with the ScheBo M2-PK Quick test and laboratory detection of fecal hemoglobin.

RESULTS: The results were correlated to the colonoscopy findings and/or histopathology report. Eighty-five subjects (age of 56.8 ± 15.3 years [mean ± standard deviation]) were recruited with a total of 17 colorectal cancer (20.0%) and 10 colorectal adenoma patients (11.8%). The sensitivity of M2-PK test in colorectal cancer detection was higher than gFOBT (100% vs. 64.7%). M2-PK test had a lower specificity when compared to gFOBT (72.5% vs. 88.2%) in colorectal cancer detection. The positive and negative predictive values were 47.2% and 100% for M2-PK test and 57.9% and 90.9% for gFOBT.

CONCLUSION: Fecal M2-PK Quick test has a high sensitivity for detection of colorectal cancer when compared to gFOBT, making it the potential choice for colorectal tumor screening biomarker in the future.