Cao LJ, Peng XL, Xue WQ, et al. - Researchers aimed at determining a fecal-based, noninvasive, and accurate method for detection of colorectal cancer (CRC) and advanced adenoma (AA).

• From the candidate biomarkers for CRC and AA detection, researchers identified the methylated DNA marker ITGA4 and bacterial markers Fusobacterium nucleatum (Fn) and Pepetostreptococcusanaerobius (Pa) via analyzing tissue (n = 96) and fecal samples (n = 88) and testing in an independent group of fecal samples (n = 294).

• Using the selected markers and fecal immunochemical test (FIT), they generated a prediction score (pd-score) for distinguishing AA and CRC from healthy individuals.

• Findings support the utility of this noninvasive and well-validated score for AA and CRC detection.