Cytologic detection of colorectal cancer after administration of oral lavage solution

Whether malignant cells can be detected in the bowel movements induced by oral gut lavage solution administration was studied in patients with known colonic adenocarcinomas. The induced bowel movements were collected in 27 patients, nine of whom had cancer proven by anatomic pathologic examination. The cells present were recovered with a simple technique and stained by the Papanicolaou method. Malignant cells were identified in the stained preparations in all nine patients with cancer (100% sensitivity), and there were few false positives (94.5% specificity). The authors concluded that if additional studies with greater numbers of subjects confirm the reliability of this technique, a test may be developed that would be useful for either early detection or screening.