Madison’s Exact Sciences is launching Cologuard Plus today, the Wisconsin State Journal reports. The updated stool test for colon cancer has been shown to detect more cancers and yield fewer false positives than the original Cologuard.
The more precise test, which received FDA approval in October, will result in up to 40% fewer patients requiring follow-up colonoscopies, according to the company. The test is ordered by doctors and shipped to patients’ homes like the original Cologuard.
A study of over 20,000 people found that the new test detects 95% of colorectal cancers and is 94% accurate in determining who doesn’t have cancer in the general screening population, the company said, adding that a negative Cologuard Plus result translates to a 99.98% chance that the patient does not have colon cancer.
