← Issue №15/ week of Oct 11, 2026/Colorectal

An Artificial Intelligence-Based Blood Test using protein and miRNA biomarkers for Colorectal Cancer Screening.

From GI Signals issue №15: what this paper found, what it changes, and where it sits against the current standard of care, reviewed by Simon Mathews, MD.

Colorectal prospective cohort · n=2,856 · Oct 6, 2026 · Clin Transl Gastro · IF 3.4

An Artificial Intelligence-Based Blood Test using protein and miRNA biomarkers for Colorectal Cancer Screening.

New therapyartificial intelligencebiomarkercolorectal cancer screening
Clinical takeawayPending further validation in a larger cohort, this AI-based blood test, which has received FDA Breakthrough Device Designation, shows promise as a non-invasive CRC screening tool.
What it foundThe AI-based blood test showed 83.3% sensitivity for CRC and 65.6% for AA at 87.2% specificity for no colonoscopy findings, non-neoplastic findings, and non-advanced precancerous lesions.
ContextProposes a non-invasive alternative for CRC screening, currently under FDA Breakthrough Device Designation, with exploratory results awaiting validation in a larger cohort.
Measured against the standard of care· USMSTF 2017 (Rex et al., Gastroenterology) + USMSTF 2022 focused update on age (Patel et al., Gastroenterology 2022;162:285-299) / ACS 2026 (CA Cancer J Clin)

Decision at stakethe choice of screening modality for average-risk colorectal cancer screening

… Multi-Society Task Force (2017 guideline, revised by the 2022 focused update on age to start and stop): offer average-risk colorectal cancer screening to everyone aged 45-75. … The American Cancer Society's May 2026 guideline agrees on the 45-75 range, no screening after 85, and colonoscopy as the preferred option. …

From our summary of this standard, unedited — the part the paper bears on. … marks omitted text. Our wording, not the guideline's; read the source for its own text.

Our full summary of this standard

U.S. Multi-Society Task Force (2017 guideline, revised by the 2022 focused update on age to start and stop): offer average-risk colorectal cancer screening to everyone aged 45-75. Screening at 45-49 is a weaker recommendation than at 50-75. Colonoscopy every 10 years and annual FIT are the Tier 1 cornerstones. Tier 2 alternatives are multi-target stool DNA every 3 years, CT colonography every 5 years, and flexible sigmoidoscopy every 5-10 years. Capsule colonoscopy every 5 years is Tier 3. Any abnormal non-colonoscopy test requires a diagnostic colonoscopy, and a stool test should not be offered to a patient who would decline follow-up colonoscopy. Patients who are up to date with negative prior screening, particularly a high-quality colonoscopy, may consider stopping at 75 or when life expectancy is under 10 years. Decisions at 76-85 are individualized by health and prior screening, and screening after 85 is not recommended. The American Cancer Society's May 2026 guideline agrees on the 45-75 range, no screening after 85, and colonoscopy as the preferred option. It adds the next-generation mt-sDNA test and the multitarget stool RNA test (ColoSense), both every 3 years, and it adds an FDA-approved blood-based cfDNA test (Shield) only for people who decline or do not complete visual or stool screening. ACS says a positive stool or blood test should be followed by colonoscopy, preferably within 6 months. The 2026 ASGE paper on follow-up after an abnormal stool test is an implementation review (navigation, tracking, direct-access colonoscopy), not a new screening guideline.

USMSTF 2017 (Rex et al., Gastroenterology) + USMSTF 2022 focused update on age (Patel et al., Gastroenterology 2022;162:285-299) / ACS 2026 (CA Cancer J Clin) · reviewed 2026-10-11 ↗
Planelles L … Kaminski MF · Clinical and Translational Gastroenterology · IF 3.4 · PubMed ↗Permalink
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