At-home disease detector could save lives - Boston News, Weather, Sports | FOX 25 | MyFoxBoston

SPECIAL REPORT (MyFoxBoston.com) - No one ever wants to hear a cancer diagnosis, and despite the push to get more people screened for the deadly disease, many people don't.

And despite the push to get more people screened for the deadly disease, many people don't.

But, as FOX25's Daniel Miller found out, that could change with screening now possible from a kit you can use at home.

Kevin Conroy, CEO at Exact Sciences, said, "The goal of a screening test is to find the disease."

Cologuard could help revolutionize the way doctors screen patients for colon cancer. This is the first non-invasive kit in a box and screening test for colorectal cancer.

"So this may seem like it's too goof to be true, but it's reality today. And it's a great option," Conroy said.

Doctors are hopeful patients will screen themselves. It's a new option some doctors are hoping many people will consider using to get tested. Colorectal cancer is considered the most preventable, but least prevented.

Michael Golden is a physician on the North Shore and one of many doctors who have prescribed the take-home-kit.

“I'd say it's adds a nice option. It helps us with people who can't have a colonoscopy because of safety concerns," Golden said.

Patients like Alan Keevey chose the kit over having a colonoscopy.

“It's easier to do, it's more straight forward and it just doesn't take any time at all," he said.

Getting ahead of the disease

According to the American Cancer Society, nearly 23 million Americans are not getting screened as doctors recommend. And as a result, colorectal cancer remains the second-leading cancer killer in the U.S.

"If we move towards where breast cancer screening is in the US, cervical cancer screening, which is closer to nearly everybody being screened, we can have a big impact on the disease," he said.

Could the kit be the key to help save lives? Exact Sciences, the creators behind it believe so.

Does it work?

Conroy said, "The science behind it is proven. We decided after developing the test to prove it in a 10,000 patient clinical trial that we designed and ran with the Mayo Clinic and other high quality institutions and the studies showed roughly 92 percent cancer detection, which is roughly similar to the cancer detection rate of colonoscopy which is the gold standard." 

And if the cancer is detected early, the 5-year survival rate can be greater than 90 percent.

"The thing about colon cancer is everybody is at risk. Everybody over the age of 50. Between 50 and 84 are recommended to be screened," he said.

In August, the U.S Food and Drug Administration approved Cologuard. It is a kit designed to detect colon cancer without the procedure of a colonoscopy and the kit is only available by prescription through your physician.

How does it work and what does it cost?

Once you have the kit---you have to collect a sample. And that sample gets tested at the lab in Madison, Wisconsin.

Our cameras went to the lab to see the process, they say in about two weeks the results will be sent to your doctor.

Dr. Michael Golden said, “If it's a positive test, you'll need a colonoscopy; if it's a negative we're going to feel good.”

The kit costs $599, which is $1,500 less than a typical colonoscopy procedure in a doctor's office.

Dr. Golden says the kit doesn't take the place of a colonoscopy. He says it's just another option to get more people at risk screened.

"Now we can have an honest discussion about an alternative technology; an alternative testing that might be appropriate," Golden said.

The American Cancer Society says nearly 60 percent of Americans between the ages of 50 and 75 should get screened every year for colon cancer.

By 2018, they want that number to be 80 percent.

The American Cancer Society recommends Colorguard be used every 3 years. Medicare is willing to pay, as are other insurance companies, for the kit.

For more information on Cologuard or to find a doctor in your area visit: www.cologuardtest.com