Cologuard allows Austin Regional Clinic patients to screen for colon cancer at home.[/caption] Austin Regional Clinic is completing a pilot program using Cologuard, a kit that allows people to screen for colon cancer at home by collecting their own stool samples and mailing them to a lab to be analyzed for abnormal cells, which could become cancerous. The kit includes a container that attaches to a toilet seat and collects the stool sample. Cologuard also contains a solution to preserve the sample and a prepaid and pre-addressed box to ship it back to the lab at Exact Sciences in Michigan, the corporation that manufactures the kit. ARC has made efforts in recent years to increase colon cancer screening rates, but only about half the patients who need the screening are getting a colonoscopy, said Dr. Anas Daghestani, medical director for Population Health at ARC.

ARC sent Cologuard to 1,500 Medicare patients in March. Dr. Anas Daghestani, medical director for population health at ARC, said nearly 500 kits—more than 30 percent—have been completed and returned so far, and participants have until the end of June to return the kits. Daghestani said the average return rate for fecal occult blood tests—another at-home kit for colon cancer screening—is only 12 percent.

“If we get anything close to 50 percent [completed Cologuard tests], we’ll be very satisfied,” he said. A colonoscopy allows physicians to look for and remove polyps, or small growths, in the large intestine. Polyps can take seven to 10 years to become cancerous, making colon cancer one of the most preventable types of cancers, Daghestani said. “It has such a slow progression course,” he said. Nonetheless, colorectal cancer is the second-leading cause of cancer death in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Adults ages 50 and older should have a colonoscopy every 10 years, Daghestani said, but they often skip the screening because of the invasiveness procedure. Patients typically have to take a day off work, drink a laxative to clear their bowels and find a ride home after the procedure, he added. For average risk adults—those without a family history of colon cancer or those who have not had polyps removed in the past—Cologuard offers a convenient alternative, Daghestani said. If the results of the Cologuard test come back negative for abnormal cells, the user does not need another screening for three years, he said. If the Cologuard test comes back positive for abnormal cells, the patient is then recommended for a colonoscopy, he added. Daghestani said ARC plans to conduct a more extensive pilot in September and send the kits to about 5,000 Medicare patients. Only Medicare currently covers the cost of the kits, which cost $300 out-of-pocket, he said. By the end of 2015, Daghestani said he expects commercial insurance carriers to start covering the cost of the kit.