Diagnosis of rectal cancer by Tissue Resonance Interaction Method.

BACKGROUND

Since population screening has the potential to reduce mortality from rectal cancer (RC), novel methods with improved cost-effectiveness warrant consideration. In a previous pilot study, we found that the rapid, inexpensive and non-invasive electromagnetic detection of RC is a highly specific and sensitive technique. The aim of the present prospective study was to evaluate the prediction accuracy of electromagnetic detection of RC.

METHODS

304 eligible subjects were consecutively enrolled in our Institute and subjected to electromagnetic detection followed by colonoscopy and histopathologic analysis of biopsies. A putative RC carrier status was attributed to subjects showing an electromagnetic signal < 50 units (U).

RESULTS

RC patients showed a significantly lower electromagnetic signal (40.9 +/- 0.9 U; mean +/- S.E.) than did non-RC subjects (79.2 +/- 1.4 U; P < 2.2e-16). At a threshold < 50 U, electromagnetic detection identified 103 putative patients, whereas colonoscopy detected 108 patients, with an overlap of 91 patients between the two methods. The 15.7% false-negative rate by electromagnetic detection was brought to zero by raising the threshold value to 70 U; on the other hand, such a threshold increased the false-positive rate to 30%.

CONCLUSION

Electromagnetic detection of RC at a signal threshold < 70 U appears to eliminate false-negative results. Although colonoscopy would still be required in examining the false-positives associated with the < 70 U electromagnetic threshold, the need for this method would be reduced. Thus, electromagnetic detection represents a new accurate, rapid, simple, and inexpensive tool for early detection of RC that merits testing in large population-based programs.