Fecal immunochemical tests from population-based colorectal cancer screening programs support prospective microbiome cohorts
Leftover stool from standard cancer screening tests reveals cancer-linked gut bacteria, enabling scalable microbiome research for prevention studies.
NCI-led population study (n=925) validates FIT residual stool as a viable substrate for whole-genome shotgun microbiome sequencing, corroborating associations of oral pathogens and E. coli/B. fragilis with CRC across the adenoma-carcinoma sequence. FIT-based microbiome profiling offers a scalable, infrastructure-efficient approach for large prospective CRC prevention research.
What the study was
- Study design
- Population-based case-control with WGS microbiome profiling (FIT residual stool)
- Population
- CRC screening participants (CRC, adenoma stages, FIT-negative controls), Turin Italy
- Sample size
- 925
- Category
- Early Detection
- Maturity
- Validated
- Journal
- British Journal of Cancer
Why it surfaced
NCI-led; n=925; validates FIT as scalable microbiome research infrastructure for CRC screening programs.
A plain-language summary of published research — not medical advice. Talk to a clinician about your own care.