The link that alysiak sent also mentions another test, the BAT26:
"Physicians may one day combine the APC test with another test designed to detect mutations in a gene called BAT26 that Vogelstein and his colleagues will report in the February 2, 2002, issue of the British medical journal, The Lancet. "This complementary assay could pick up a significant fraction of the cancers that we might miss through the APC assays, and together the tests could probably detect over 80 percent of the lesions," he said."
Probably the best way to convince your grandmother is that this test is:
- non-invasive (stool sample is all that is needed)
- there is a lack of false-positives (so no scary test results that you may/may not be able to depend on)
- this test (or both of them, combined) could be the key to early detection, in which surgery would be successful (as you know, colon cancer's treatment success rate is low due to the lack of early detection options)
That is certainly motivating to me!
I am not sure what stage this research is in currently for these tests; if they are both being conducted in the clinical setting (your doctor can provide more information on this).
Good luck! Let us know what your grandmother's response is!
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The link that alysiak sent also mentions another test, the BAT26:
"Physicians may one day combine the APC test with another test designed to detect mutations in a gene called BAT26 that Vogelstein and his colleagues will report in the February 2, 2002, issue of the British medical journal, The Lancet. "This complementary assay could pick up a significant fraction of the cancers that we might miss through the APC assays, and together the tests could probably detect over 80 percent of the lesions," he said."
Probably the best way to convince your grandmother is that this test is:
- non-invasive (stool sample is all that is needed)
- there is a lack of false-positives (so no scary test results that you may/may not be able to depend on)
- this test (or both of them, combined) could be the key to early detection, in which surgery would be successful (as you know, colon cancer's treatment success rate is low due to the lack of early detection options)
That is certainly motivating to me!
I am not sure what stage this research is in currently for these tests; if they are both being conducted in the clinical setting (your doctor can provide more information on this).
Good luck! Let us know what your grandmother's response is!
June 16, 2009 - 8:17pmThis Comment
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