Wei SC, et al. – Researchers assessed the efficacy of using serum placenta growth factor (PlGF) for an innovative colorectal cancer (CRC) screening strategy. They compared fecal occult blood test (FOBT), serum PlGF, and their combination with respect to sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, and negative predictive value as screening tools. They found that the efficacy of the predictive model that used the serum PlGF level alone was equivalent to that of FOBT, and the former yielded significantly higher sensitivity than the latter. These findings are suggestive of the potential of serum PlGF level as an alternative screening tool for CRC, particularly for those who are reluctant to stool-based screening methods and who were tested as negative FOBT. The investigators concluded that combining serum PlGF level and FOBT might increase the strength of CRC screening.