Anyone have a positive Cologuard test?

Cologuard is a screening test which is a fast, easy and non-invasive test but is subject to error and false positives. It's purpose is early detection of cancer and pre-cancerous polyps. Because it is subject to false positives, the standard of care of a positive case is to do a colonoscopy to take a look at the rectum/colon and take biopsies of anything suspicious. Often small polyps are excised during the colonoscopy.

While it's hard, don't panic. Wait until you've had the colonoscopy and gotten results back.

The big fear is colon cancer - advances have made this curable for the vast majority of patients.

You can handle this, be concerned, but don't panic.

Everything Vero says is true.

I wish to add that colon cancer is very much treatable and survivable - even an advanced case like mine which was detected via Cologuard followed by a colonoscopy back in January 2021.

In short, don't panic, but get that colonoscopy soon. It's helpful to get facts from reliable sources on the internet - facts help to dispel fear.

I read of a new test being researched that is better and it's 85% accurate per early tests. This one is years off before we see it available, but the implication is that the Cologuard test isn't all that effective/accurate or they wouldn't be working to replace it with something better.

More on the Cologuard test:

"Cologuard can detect 92% of cancers but only 42% of large precancerous polyps. In other words, no, it is not accurate, especially when it comes to preventing cancer by detecting polyps."

"While it is better at detecting cancer than FIT (74% vs 92% for FIT test vs Cologuard), the false positive rate is higher. The Cologuard false-positive rate is 13%, and that rate increases as people age."

Source: https://www.gastroconsa.com/the-truth-about-cologuard-tests/

Hope that helps.

@melelliott50, it is scary to get a positive result. Your doctor will most likely ask you to get a colonoscopy since that is still the golden standard of care to find polyps and/or CR cancer. Try to think positively: it might be a false positive; if not, it will probably have allowed you to find the cancer at an early stage with the best chance possible of a successful treatment that would not need to be so heavy.
Sending a hug.

So how did the sedative go?

you mentioned you were scared of that.

There’s a whole thread on this question “ Anyone have a positive Cologuard test?” with many replies!

im 50 years old i did my 1st cologuard test and it came back abnormal i have a consoltation april 1 and im scared any good advice

i turned 50 in may and i just did my 1st cologuard test and it came back positive i have a consolt with doctor on mon and im scared

Great news! I too was very concerned about the colonoscopy and that delay gave me Stage 3 cancer. It's likely that the FIT missed it but the Cologuard picked it up.

Yes. I have a family history of colon cancer, and I should get a colonoscopy, but I have a terrible fear of anesthesia - so, I do FIT and COLOGUARD tests yearly.

This was the first time one came back positive (cologuard) and I had to schedule a follow up colonoscopy. It was a tense month waiting for an appointment for the test, to say the least. My colonoscopy was called normal. One small hemorrhoid and no polyps.

I will not criticize the Cologuard or FIT tests, as I probably would not have ever just gone in for a routine colonoscopy. The false positive was a blessing.

As I understand, a positive Cologuard results in only 5% of the cases actually being cancer as determined by the colonoscopy. The FIT test looked only for blood in stool, the Cologuard detects blood AND tumor DNA. So it is much better