Colonoscopy for suspected colorectal cancer
Colonoscopy is the gold standard for colon cancer diagnostics. It is also the only examination that can be understood as a preventive examination. A colonoscopy can therefore detect precancerous stages.
The test for hidden blood, on the other hand, does not detect precancerous stages, but rather indicates that cancer has already been diagnosed. While a colonoscopy is a preventive examination, the test for occult blood is strictly speaking a screening test. Colonoscopy is financially covered by health insurance companies from the age of 55 onwards twice every 10 years. If a preventive colonoscopy reveals conspicuous findings and, for example, preliminary stages of cancer, so-called polyps, are detected and removed, the control interval is reduced.
What colorectal cancer tests are available for home use?
The already mentioned immunological test for hidden blood (iFOBT) is taken home by the patient. There, the patient fills the stool tube and brings it back to the family doctor, who sends it to a specialized laboratory. However, there is also an immunological test that can be done completely at home by the patient.
It is called a FOB self-test. The test is not paid for by the statutory health insurance companies and costs just under 20 euros. Just like the iFOBT, it uses an immunological procedure to detect red blood pigment in the stool.
Another intestinal cancer test, which is partly performed at home, is the M2-PK stool test. This test detects a specific colon cancer enzyme in the stool. The test can either be purchased and sent to a specialized laboratory or it can be done by your family doctor.
Currently, this test is not recommended in the colorectal cancer guidelines and is therefore not covered by health insurance companies. The costs are about 30 to 40 Euros. It is important to know that an online self-test can never replace a visit to the doctor.
Very often, however, such a test can already give you an initial picture of the situation and accordingly assess the urgency of a medical clarification. Use such offers also to familiarize yourself with the most important questions (which the doctor will also ask you) and thus facilitate the conversation with the doctor. Go here to our self-test on the topic of colorectal cancer: Colorectal cancer self-test
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