[Hemoccult test bead for screening of upper G-I tract cancer]

Hemoccult test bead is able to tell whether there is occult blood in the stomach juice or not. Screening test was carried out in the high incidence area for detecting the upper G-I tract cancer. The bead, swallowed and retained in the stomach for 3 minutes, was able to sort out the suspected individuals by its coloration: yellow (-), light blue (+), blue (++) and dark green ( ). 26261 normal subjects were screened in the high incidence area. The ages ranged from 35 to 70. 6353 (24.2%) of them showed positive results. Subsequent fiber-gastroscopy was performed for definite diagnosis in 2888 persons with positive results. 98 cancers were confirmed by pathology (26 in esophagus, 34 in gastric cardia, and 38 in stomach) with a detection rate of 3.4%. 73.5% of the cancer so discovered were in early stage. Factors influencing the cancer detection rate are sex, age and degree of positivity.