A case-control study evaluating occult blood screening for colorectal cancer with hemoccult test and an immunochemical hemagglutination test.

A case control study to evaluate the occult blood screening for colorectal cancer was conducted in a town where colorectal cancer screening had been performed by Hemoccult test during the early years and subsequently by an immunochemical hemagglutination test. All residents aged >/=40 years had been offered the annual screening. Case series consisted of 51 subjects with fatal colorectal cancer. Three controls per case were selected from the list of residents who were alive at the time of diagnosis of the corresponding case and had been living in the town, matched by gender and by age. The odds ratio (OR) of dying of colorectal cancer for those having their most recent screening histories with Hemoccult test or the immunochemical test during the preceding 1 year and 1-2 year segment before case diagnosis were 0.20 [95% confidence interval (CI): 0.08-0.49] and 0. 17 (95% CI: 0.04-0.75), respectively. The OR increased towards 1.0 as the number of years since the most recent screening increased. The OR of dying of colorectal cancer was calculated to be 0.19 (95% CI: 0.05-0.70) for those screened with the immunochemical test alone during the preceding 1 year after adjustment for previous screening histories with the Hemoccult test. Corresponding OR was 0.36 (95% CI: 0.11-1.17) for those screened with Hemoccult test during the preceding 1 year. These results suggest that screening for colorectal cancer by fecal occult blood testings or immunochemical test alone would reduce mortality and that efficacy of the screening would be higher for the immunochemical test than for Hemoccult test.

An immunologic test for fecal occult blood by counter immunoelectrophoresis. Higher sensitivity and higher positive reactions in colorectal cancer than single radial immunodiffusion and hemoccult test.

A new immunologic fecal occult blood test has been developed employing counter immunoelectrophoresis (CIEP) with anti-human hemoglobin Ao antiserum (anti-HbAo). Minimum detectable hemoglobin in hemolysate was 7, 9, and 7 micrograms/ml by CIEP, single radial immunodiffusion (SRID), and Hemoccult test (SmithKline Beckman), respectively. The values in stool were 0.5, 1.0, 3.0 mg hemoglobin/g stool in the same order. CIEP was more sensitive than SRID in detecting hemoglobin both in hemolysate and in feces. Of 38 stools from the patients with colorectal cancer, 29 (76%) gave positive tests in CIEP, whereas 22 (58%) (P less than 0.005), and 18 (47%) (P less than 0.05) gave positive tests in SRID and Hemoccult test, respectively. In every stage and at every site of cancer, CIEP showed the highest positive tests. CIEP did not give any false-positive reaction in specimens from 20 patients without gastrointestinal lesion or from 34 asymptomatic healthy controls without diet restriction, whereas Hemoccult test gave one and three positive reactions in these groups. These results clearly indicate that CIEP is specific and more sensitive to human hemoglobin than any other previous methods. CIEP is expected to have a potential for mass screening of colorectal cancer.

[Clinical study on micronomicin in the field of internal medicine].

From clinical study on micronomicin (MCR) [Sagamicin, KW-1062], the following results were obtained. MCR was administered clinically at the daily dose of 120--240 mg for 1--45 days to 23 patients. The clinical effectiveness rate of MCR was 72.7% in all cases. As side effects, exanthema, drop of blood pressure and shortness of breath were observed in 1 patient (malignant lymphoma). Elevations of S-GOT, S-GPT and BUN were encountered in some patients. However, these results might not be due to the administration of MCR, because antitumor agents on the blood transfusion had been applied to the patients suffering from underlying diseases such as leukemia or malignant tumor. Side effects, such as impairment of the 8th nerve, renal and liver function were not noted. MCR is considered to be a useful antibiotic in the treatment of various infectious diseases combined with underlying diseases, such as progressive cancer and leukemia, and the infectious diseases of the aged.