The Bowel Screening Laboratory in Wales have been running the Alpha Laboratories Faecal Immunochemical Testing (FIT) kits on the HM-JACKarc analyser for over five years. The lab runs around 350,000 FIT tests per annum and have recently changed their control reagents from lyophilised controls to the new innovative liquid controls. Andrew Jones, the Laboratory Section…
At this year’s CRUK Early Diagnosis Conference in Birmingham, Judith Strachan presented her poster entitled: GP Referral Rate and Clinical Outcome of Patients According to FIT Result. Introduction Faecal Immunochemical Tests (FIT) use specific antibodies against intact human haemoglobin and early breakdown products to quantify the amount of blood in faecal samples (f-Hb). There is…
Lynne Taylor is the Study Coordinator at NHS Tayside Hospital, where she has worked for 50 years. Before introducing The Alpha Portal (TAP) for distributing sample collection kits, the FIT kitting process was very manual and time consuming. Tayside transitioned to using TAP back in November 2023, and Lynne has given us an insight into…
On Thursday 2nd December 2021, at the Annual MediWales conference in Cardiff, Alpha Laboratories was declared the winner of the Partnership with NHS Award, sponsored by the Life Science Hub. This was in recognition of the industry partnership with the Clinical Biochemistry team at Cwm Taf Morgannwg University Health Board (CTMUHB), resulting in the successful…
The faecal immunochemical test (FIT) is used to identify microscopic traces of haemoglobin in faeces which is a common indicator of significant bowel disease (SBD). Primarily used in colorectal cancer (CRC) referral pathways, FIT has been in routine use across the UK for several years, aiding the assessment of symptomatic patients referred from primary care.…
The COVID-19 pandemic has brought many challenges for clinicians and supporting services that have driven the need to manage patients differently. With current changes in the availability of endoscopy and laboratory testing resources, new solutions have had to be developed. Prior to COVID-19 the role of the faecal immunochemical test (FIT), in addition to screening…
In June 2018 the South West Cancer Alliance (SWCA) implemented a faecal immunochemical testing (FIT) service for occult blood. To support its diagnostic pathway for colorectal cancer (CRC), this is aimed at the early detection of CRC in patients classed as “low risk” but not “no risk”. Providing access to FIT testing for General Practice…
Professor Callum G. Fraser Explores the Need for Low Faecal Haemoglobin Concentration Estimates Faecal immunochemical tests for haemoglobin (FIT) are now widely used in asymptomatic screening for bowel cancer and in assessment of patients presenting with lower bowel symptoms. FIT might also be of value in other clinical settings such as surveillance of patients with…
The NICE FIT Study is a research project in Bowel Cancer Care that has been initiated by the department of Colorectal Surgery at Croydon University Hospital together with RM Partners Accountable Cancer Network in South and West London. It is the largest study in England investigating whether FIT can be used as a triage tool…
Setting up a FIT Feasibility Study and considerations for ISO 15189 accreditation. Hull & East Yorkshire Hospitals NHS trust is undertaking a feasibility study for the roll out of faecal immunochemical testing (FIT) in symptomatic patients, using the HM-JACKarc system. Having recently had a successful UKAS Assessment for transition to ISO 15189 (including FIT), the team presents their implementation and assessment experience, to…
We’re working on a way to make FIT as safe as possible, and identify whether it misses cancer in a predictable way The NICE FIT Study – 6 Months on… The NICE FIT study was launched through Croydon University Hospital in early 2017, as a diagnostic accuracy study for faecal immunochemical testing (FIT). Following the introduction of NICE DG301…
Safety-netting patients with a low faecal haemoglobin concentration and modifying the current patient pathway to improve patient care. Dr. James Turvill, Consultant Gastroenterologist, York Teaching Hospital NHS Foundation Trust Dr. James Turvill is a screening endoscopist within the Bowel Cancer Screening Programme and has an interest in inflammatory bowel disease and gastrointestinal cancer. Since 2008 he has developed a research…
Judith Strachan, Consultant Clinical Scientist at Ninewells Hospital & Medical School, tells us about the introduction of FIT for triaging patients at NHS Tayside. Gastroenterologists are increasingly challenged to provide an appropriate colonoscopy service to the population with more referrals and longer waiting times. In Tayside we’d seen the number of colonoscopies going up year by year. However, the number…
Alan Hankinson, Senior Biomedical Scientist with the HM-JACKarc at Monklands Hospital An interview with Dr Ian Godber, Consultant Clinical Scientist, Clinical Lead (Biochemistry), Monklands Hospital, NHS Lanarkshire Dr Ian Godber’s team at NHS Lanarkshire has evaluated the HM-JACKarc automated FIT analytical system for assessment of patients referred from primary care to endoscopy because of lower…
Guildford Medical Device Evaluation Centre (GMEC) Evaluation of Quantitative Faecal Immunochemical Tests for Haemoglobin The excellent clinical outcome data demonstrated in many publications, require faecal haemoglobin cut-offs for referral for further investigation, at the low end of the analytical range of the available FIT systems. The choice of laboratory method is therefore important to the…
Improve Sample Integrity for Faecal Haemoglobin One of the challenges in clinical diagnostics is the logistics of getting a quality sample from the patient to the laboratory for analysis. When considering the detection of faecal haemoglobin (f-Hb), this is partly dependent on the technology to be employed. In the days of guaiac based faecal testing,…