Diagnosis of colorectal cancer by faecal calprotectin: an analysis of 87 cases

AIM: To explore the values of faecal calpro- tectin, faecal occult blood tests and serum carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) in the diagnosis of colorectal cancer. METHODS: Faecal calprotectin, faecal occult blood and serum CEA were detected in 60 healthy adults and 87 patients with colorectal cancer. Tumor location and Dukes' stages were obtained from postoperative pathological exami- nation. RESULTS: The sensitivities of faecal calprotec- tin, faecal occult blood test and serum CEA were 88.51%, 83.91% and 44.83%, respectively, in the diagnosis of colorectal cancer, while the specific - ities were 88.33, 96.67% and 93.33, respectively. The positive rates of faecal occult blood test and serum CEA in patients with Dukes' stage C and D were significantly higher than those in patients with Dukes' stage A and B (P = 0.0173, 0.0059). There was no significant difference in faecal calprotectin level in patients with differ- ent tumor locations and Dukes' stages. Faecal calprotectin in combination with FOBT and/or CEA demonstrated a little higher sensitivity. CONCLUSION: Faecal calprotectin is sensitive in the diagnosis of colorectal cancer, and can be used as a non-invasive surrogate marker for screening colorectal cancer in outpatients.