There is currently no blood test that can tell you if you have bowel cancer. However, your doctor may test your blood for indicators about your overall health, such as kidney and liver function tests. Your doctor may also test your blood for a chemical sometimes produced by colon cancers called carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA).

No test is 100% accurate. There is a chance that a precancerous polyp or cancer can be missed if it wasn’t bleeding when the test was done. Regular screening gives you the best chance of early detection of colorectal cancer, where treatment may be more successful. The fecal immunochemical test, or FIT, uses antibodies to detect blood in the stool and is about 79% accurate at detecting bowel cancer.

A FIT stool test is less invasive than a colonoscopy but should be repeated more often to screen for potential cancer. FIT tests are also not able to identify the source of fecal occult blood, meaning additional tests may be needed if abnormalities are found. Additionally, false positives are possible with any test, meaning the result may indicate the presence of blood when none exists.

It is necessary to investigate the source of fecal occult blood with additional testing. All Homed-IQ test results include a complete laboratory report. If your test result is positive, please take your test result to your healthcare provider for follow-up care.

There are several different types of tests to screen for colon cancer, including structural examinations of the colon (such as a colonoscopy) and stool examinations for occult (hidden) blood. Homed-IQ’s Bowel Cancer test is a fecal occult blood test that checks for abnormal bleeding in the stool. The stool sample for this test is collected at home and then sent to our certified laboratory. This is the same FIT that you would receive at a doctor’s office.

We currently do not have any agreements with health insurers. We recommend you to check directly with your insurer whether at-home celiac tests are covered. Certain insurance companies do cover certain at-home laboratory tests. Homed-IQ can provide itemized receipts for tests you order – which you can then submit to your insurance for reimbursement. Our receipts include:

• Purchaser’s name, email, and address
• Date of purchase (as opposed to date of service)
• Amount paid (after any discounts or promotions)

The CDC recommends that adults between the ages of 45 and 75 are regularly screened for bowel cancer. In the Netherlands, this age group is 55 to 75. You may need to get screened earlier, or more often if:

• You have a family history of colorectal polyps or colon cancer
• You have an inflammatory bowel disease such as ulcerative colitis or Crohn’s disease
• You have a genetic syndrome that predisposes you to colon cancer, such as Lynch syndrome
• You are experiencing gastrointestinal complaints

Stool tests such as the one offered by Homed-IQ should be repeated one a year.

Please visit the following resources for more information: CDC: What should I know about colon cancer screening? Types of Colorectal Cancer Screening Tests NHS: Bowel Cancer Screening

This test checks for the presence of blood in a stool sample, indicating potential bleeding in the bowels. Blood from other areas, such as menstruation or haemorrhoids, can cause the test to be positive even if no bleeding in the bowels is present. You should not perform this test while menstruating or if you have bleeding haemorrhoids.