A new dedicated website has been developed by Alpha Laboratories Ltd. to raise awareness amongst clinicians, laboratories, patients and the public, about advances in the detection of colorectal cancer using the faecal immunochemical test (FIT)

You can find out all about why FIT is being adopted by the bowel cancer screening programmes and is also now recommended by NICE DG30, to guide referral for colorectal cancer in primary care for symptomatic patients.

This new resource provides a repository of information for all those involved in FIT. Experiential case studies, plus videos of presentations, provide access to expertise from key opinion leaders in the field. With pages tailored to each part of the patient pathway, an extensive list of literature, publications, resources, related news and events that are regularly updated, it is the number one resource for FIT in the UK and Eire.

www.faecal-immunochemical-test.co.uk also offers useful information on products and solutions necessary to provide a FIT service. With Alpha Laboratories’ Bowel Cancer Specialists on hand to help develop your specific programme it is the ‘go to’ place for advice from the experts, whose knowledge has been gained from many years’ experience in faecal occult blood testing and a long association with the NHS bowel cancer screening programmes. 

FIT is now an established diagnostic test that identifies the presence of minute quantities of haemoglobin (blood) in the stool, known as faecal occult blood (FOB), which can be an early sign of colorectal cancer. FIT uses antibodies specific to human haemoglobin so is more sensitive and has a greater specificity than the previous qualitative guaiac based methods.

FIT is being adopted by the National Bowel Cancer Screening programmes and is expected to improve uptake since the sampling method is easier, more hygienic and more acceptable to people invited for screening. The automated FIT assay benefits clinicians and laboratories too; with rapid turn-around, quantitative results, and simple processing.

Since the announcement in July 2017 by the National Institute of Health and Care Excellence (NICE) regarding FIT, the interest in the test has increased dramatically. NICE Guidance DG30 recommends “Quantitative faecal immunochemical tests to guide referral for colorectal cancer in primary care”. It also concludes that, “FIT should be used to triage for referral to secondary care, people whose symptoms suggest colorectal cancer, but in whom a definitive diagnosis of cancer is unlikely.”

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