Fecal Occult Blood Test (FOBT)
Advantages
- Easiest of all the tests
- Cheapest of the four tests, $10-$25
- Simple diet to follow and drugs to avoid
Things to Consider
- Need to do every year
- Have to handle stool
- Need other test like flexible sigmoidoscopy
- Least accurate of the four tests
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This test checks for blood that may be hidden (occult) in the stool. These small amounts of blood may mean that you have polyps or cancer. Small stool samples from three bowel movements in a row are placed on a test strip. FOBT is done at home and the kit is sent to a laboratory for evaluation. Getting a yearly FOBT has been shown to reduce deaths from colorectal cancer. However, since FOBT can miss some cancers, it is often used in combination with other tests, such as flexible sigmoidoscopy, colonoscopy, or double contrast barium enema (DCBE).
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