Volume 30, Issue 173, July 2026

Current evidence on non-invasive methods for colorectal cancer detection

Jakub Majcherek^1♦, Tomasz Karwowski², Maciej Świerczyna³, Agata Olecka⁴, Filip Gałązka⁵, Fryderyka Orawczak⁶, Julia Gałązka⁷, Mateusz Mazurek⁸, Mikołaj Kotusiewicz⁹, Zuzanna Czuba⁸

¹Voivodeship Hospital in Tarnów, Lwowska Street 178A, 33-100 Tarnów, Poland
²Voivodeship Hospital in Płock, Medyczna Street 19, 09-400 Płock, Poland
³Ministry of the Interior and Administration Hospital, Północna Street 42, 91-425 Łódź, Poland
⁴7th Military Naval Hospital, Polanki Street 117, 80-305 Gdańsk, Poland
⁵Copernicus PL Sp. z o.o., St. Adalbert Hospital, Aleja Jana Pawła II 50, 80-462 Gdańsk, Poland
⁶Medical University of Łódź, Aleja Tadeusza Kościuszki 4, 90-419 Łódź, Poland
⁷Cardinal Stefan Wyszyński University in Warsaw, Wóycickiego Street 1/3, 01-938 Warsaw, Poland
⁸Medical University of Warsaw, Żwirki i Wigury Street 61, 02-091 Warsaw, Poland
⁹Jagiellonian University Collegium Medicum, Świętej Anny Street 12, 31-008 Kraków, Poland

^♦Corresponding author
Jakub Majcherek, Voivodeship Hospital in Tarnów, Lwowska Street 178A, 33-100 Tarnów, Poland

ABSTRACT

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the third cause of cancer deaths worldwide. The annual number of diagnosed cases is estimated at 2 million and is expected to increase. Because early detection significantly improves patients' survival, researchers are now looking for new targets for CRC detection strategies. Several strategies for noninvasive CRC detection were analyzed, including stool, blood, urine, saliva, microbiome, and imaging-based ones. Multi-marker studies often reported higher sensitivity than established fecal blood tests and reduced specificity. Another disadvantage was small study cohorts and limited prospective evidence. Evidence from blood-based methods came especially from methylation and circulating miRNA panels. However, promising results are limited by cost and heterogeneity of the studied methods. While studies on saliva, urine, and microbiome-based biomarkers are exploratory, the detection of adenomas and premalignant lesions seems to be neglected.

Keywords: colorectal cancer; non-invasive screening; biomarkers; liquid biopsy; multi-marker panels

Medical Science, 2026, 30, e120ms3919

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Published: 09 July 2026