METHODS: Stool DNA was isolated and tumor-associated high molecular weight DNA (1.476 kb fragment including exons 6-9 of the p53 gene) was amplified using PCR and visualized on ethidium bromide-stained agarose gels.
RESULTS: Out of 32 CRC patients, 18 were positive for the presence of high molecular weight DNA as compared to none of the healthy individuals, resulting in an overall sensitivity of 56.3% with 100% specificity. Out of 32 patients, 23 had tumor on the left side and 9 on the right side, 16 and 2 being respectively positive. This showed that high molecular weight DNA was significantly (p=0.022) more detectable in patients with left side tumor (69.6% vs 22.2%). Out of 32 patients, 22 had tumors larger than 1.0 cm, 18 of these (81.8%) being positive for long DNA as compared to not a single patient with tumor size smaller than 1.0 cm (p<0.001).
CONCLUSION: We detected CRC-related high molecular weight p53 DNA in stool samples of CRC patients with an overall sensitivity of 56.3% with 100% specificity, with a strong tumor size dependence.
METHODS: A literature search of PubMed, ScienceDirect, and Scopus was carried out. The search strategy was restricted to human subjects and studies are published in English. Data on sensitivity and specificity were extracted and pooled. Heterogeneity was assumed at significance level of p < 0.10 and was tested by chi squared. Degree of heterogeneity was quantified using the I2 statistic, and values of less than 25% is considered as homogenous. All analyses were performed using the software Meta-Disc.
RESULTS: A total of eleven studies were suitable for data synthesis and analysis. Five studies were analyzed for the accuracy of genetic testing, the pooled estimate for sensitivity and specificity were 71% (95% CI: 66, 75%) and 95% (95% CI: 93, 97%) respectively. Another group of studies which had been evaluated for the accuracy of FOBT, the pooled sensitivity was 31% (95% CI: 25, 38%) while the pooled specificity was 87% (95% CI: 86, 89%).
CONCLUSIONS: FOBTs is recommended to use as population-based screening tools for colorectal cancer while genetic testing should be focusing on patients with moderate and high risk individuals.