Cologuard can improve colorectal cancer screening rates, according to a study published in Gastroenterology.
Exact Sciences and Rochester, Minn.-based Mayo Clinic reviewed more than 365,000 Medicare orders from Exact Sciences Laboratories, the sole-source lab for Cologuard.
Seventy-one percent of Medicare beneficiaries who ordered Cologuard completed the test. Of patients who completed the test, 90.7 percent did so within 60 days of receiving it. Exact Sciences offered support through a patient navigation system during that 60-day window.
Mayo Clinic researchers published a second study examining colonoscopy screening rates after positive Cologuard results, finding that a majority of patients completed a follow-up diagnostic colonoscopy. Researchers found that patients with colorectal neoplasia had a higher proportion of right-sided lesions than those who were new to screening. Researchers concluded that prior screening "may have missed these right-sided lesions."
Note: Gastroenterology study links were not live at the time of publication.