1985 Volume 38 Issue 1 Pages 1-6
In 1978, we began a mass screening survey for detecting colorectal cancers in early stage by testing fecal occult blood. Since April, 1982, a new program of mass screening was started. Small amount of feces smeared on guaiac impregnated filter paper (Shionogi-B) under restricted diet were submitted and tested for occult blood for 3 successive days. From April 1982 to March 1983, out of 7392 participants, 1934 people (26.2 %) were selected by (a) the fecal occult blood testing positive group (1383), (b) the questionaire positive group (245) and (c) the familial high risk group (306). And 1251 people (64.7 %) were submitted to digital rectal examination, rigid proctosigmoidoscopy, double contrast barium enema and total colonofiberscopy if necessary. Ten people (0.14 %) had colorectal cancer, of whom 5 were in early stage. One-hundred fifty-seven (2.1 %), had polyp (s) and 113 (1.5 %) had diverticular diseases. From these results, we consider this screening method is very useful for the detection of colorectal cancer in its curable stage.
