Estimated mean sojourn time associated with hemoccult SENSA for detection of proximal and distal colorectal cancer.

BACKGROUND Sojourn time is the length of the preclinical screen-detectable phase, a period when a test can detect asymptomatic disease. Mean sojourn time (MST) is an important factor in determining appropriate screening intervals. Available estimates of MST for colorectal cancer (CRC) are imprecise and are associated with the older Hemoccult II test. This article presents MST estimates associated with the newer Hemoccult SENSA test and describes differences in MST by the location of cancer in the colorectum and age at the time of screening. METHODS MST was estimated from a cohort of 42,079 patients who underwent Hemoccult SENSA between January 1, 1997 and December 31, 2010. The precision of MST estimates was improved by incorporating information from a meta-analysis of the sensitivity of Hemoccult SENSA into the analytic model. RESULTS Estimated MST for cancers in the proximal and distal colorectum, with 95% credible intervals (CrI) in years, were: 3.86 (1.55-6.91) and 3.35 (2.11-4.93) among 45- to 54-year olds; 3.78 (2.18-5.77) and 2.24 (1.48-3.17) among 55- to 64-year olds; and 2.70 (1.41-4.31) and 2.10 (1.34-3.04) among 65- to 74-year olds. CONCLUSIONS MST associated with Hemoccult SENSA was longer for CRC in the proximal versus distal colon. We found no evidence that MST increases with age and some evidence that it may decrease. IMPACT These results add new information about the natural history of CRC and information about the performance of Hemoccult SENSA.