Exact Sciences test detects 92 percent colorectal cancers

Endoscopic image of colon cancer identified in the sigmoid colon on screening colonoscopy for Crohn's disease (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

(Reuters) - Exact Sciences Corp said its molecular screening test for colorectal cancer met the main goal of detecting the disease in more patients than other commonly used screening tests in a large late-stage study.

Exact's test, which identifies abnormal DNA in cells shed in a patient's stool, detected 92 percent of colorectal cancers and 42 percent of pre-cancerous polyps in a study on more than 10,000 people, the company said on Thursday.

The study compared the performance of the Cologuard test to colonoscopy and fecal immunochemical testing or FIT.

(Reporting by Esha Dey in Bangalore, Additional reporting by Susan Kelly in Chicago; Editing by Roshni Menon)