Effects of Increasing Screening Age and Fecal Hemoglobin Cutoff Concentrations in a Colorectal Cancer Screening Program

In an analysis of an average-risk screening population in The Netherlands, we found that detection of advanced neoplasia by FIT increases significantly with age and fecal Hb cutoff concentration. Increasing the cutoff concentration or screening age reduces the numbers of patients who undergo colonoscopy evaluation in FIT-based CRC screening programs. Our findings provide insight in these effects per age category and cutoff concentration and the consequences in terms of missed lesions.