Virginia Via Research Day Book 2026

Medical Student Research Clinical

29 ANALYSIS OF NON-INVASIVE COLORECTAL CANCER DETECTION METHODS IN TARGETED POPULATION

Yen Vicki Ha, OMS-II; Bhavya Jetty, OMS-II; Tiffany Ngo, OMS-II Corresponding author:Yha@vcom.edu, bjetty@vcom.edu, Tngo01@vcom.edu

VCOM-Virginia, Blacksburg, Virginia

prevalence across age groups. Participants with inflammatory bowel disease and hereditary colorectal cancer syndromes were excluded. Screening modalities were identified through electronic healthrecords and classified as non-invasive methods, including fecal immunochemical testing (FIT) and stool DNA testing. The primary outcome was an incident of colorectal cancer, confirmed via pathology and electronic health records. All analyses were performed using a chi squared test to determine the prevalence between the cohorts. Ethical approval was granted for the use of de-identified All of Us data, which was determined to be exempt from full institutional review. Results: In analyzing the research, we found that due to screening at an earlier age, there is a decrease in incidence of colorectal cancer. It was found that in the under 50 age stratification of those with colorectal cancer, of the 917 participants, 22 had undergone noninvasive screening, whereas 895 had not. In the over 50 age stratification of those with colorectal cancer, of the 3589 individuals, 218 individuals had undergone noninvasive screening, whereas 3371 had not. After conducting a Chi square analysis given these values, the p-value of this distribution was found to be 0.00. This value is not a true statistical 0 but rather a reflection of

an extremely small p-value. Nevertheless, this p-value is <0.05 allowing us to fail to reject the null hypothesis that there is no difference that non-invasive screening confers to colorectal cancer incidence. Therefore, it is reasonable to assume that there is an association of decreased colorectal cancer incidence with early detection. Conclusion: Early detections through non-invasive methods such as FIT and stool DNA samples are playing asignificant role in identifying colorectal cancer at a younger age, contributing to the growing incidence. We hope that the results will demonstrate that positive tests from early screening are similar to those of the older population. This will emphasize more of a reason to start earlier screening before symptoms begin to appear. Future research should explore socioeconomic factors and barriers of access to healthcare, as well as body mass index, smoking status, alcohol use, and family history of colorectal cancer, to further analyze social determinants of health and construct a comprehensive multifactorial approach to the correlation of screening and colorectal cancer. Confirmmentor or PI and all coauthors

Context: Colorectal cancer has been rising in both incidence and mortality among individuals under 55according to the American Cancer Society. In response to this trend, the U.S. Preventative Task Force has recently lowered the recommended age to begin routine colorectal cancer screening. Understanding the factors driving early-onset colorectal cancer is essential for expanding awareness, improving screening practices, and addressing the shifting epidemiology of this disease. Objective: To investigate the underlying drivers of the increasing incidence of colorectal cancer by evaluating the relative contributions from advances in screening technologies and early-life determinants Methods: This study utilized a retrospective ohort design drawing on data from the All of Us Research Program, a national, NIH-supported database containing electronic health records, survey responses, and multi omics data. Participants aged 18 years and older with documented colorectal cancer screeninghistory and available stool DNA sequencing data were eligible for inclusion. To enable age-stratified comparisons, individuals aged 18–50 years were categorized as the younger cohort, while those 50 years and older comprised the older cohort. An age-stratified cohort design was used to reflect differences in cancer

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