CEA-Scan is too new to have compiled direct statistics demonstrating the economic impact on the cost of care of colorectal cancer patients. Nevertheless, many statistics, references and clinical experiences support such preop evaluation with CEA-Scan:

• The incidence of metastatic disease is high. "Fifteen to 20% of patients with colorectal cancer present with distant metastases."¹
• Histology and clinical judgment do not always predict cure. "In spite of having disease (believed to be) localized at operation, 30%-40% of patients initially classified as Dukes’ B will develop metastases."²
• Recurrence rate is high. "50% of patients who undergo curative resection develop local, regional, or widespread recurrence. These statistics have remained relatively constant over several decades despite improved methods of early diagnosis & surgical treatment."³
• The incidence and risk of complications during and after curative surgery is high – even at cancer centers. In a study at a major NCI comprehensive cancer center (Roswell Park), 25 of 51 patients (49%) undergoing pelvic exenteration for primary colorectal cancer developed severe complications⁴, with an operative mortality rate of 6%. After exenteration for recurrent disease, 12 of 24 patients (50%) developed severe complications, with an operative mortality rate of 4%.⁵
• The cost of those frequent complications is high. Whether a patient with colorectal cancer is curable or not, "indirect costs (of complications following surgery for colorectal cancer) accounted for 38% [of cost of managing patients]" vs. 12% for the original operation. Nursing accounted for 25%; medical staff, 13%; consumables, 16%. Tests accounted for just 8% of costs.⁶
• CEA-Scan has proven to help surgeons determine and adjust procedures to patients’ potential for curative resection. In a prospective study of CEA-Scan in patients with primary & recurrent colorectal cancer, "...[CEA-Scan] had a decisive influence on treatment planning in every third primary colorectal cancer patient..."⁷
• CEA-Scan makes that contribution because it detects metastatic disease. In the pivotal trials of CEA-Scan, 11 of 23 primary-disease patients had metastatic disease identified at surgery. CEA-ScanŽ correctly identified at least one metastatic lesion in each of the 11 patients, including 10 patients who had liver metastases.⁸
• CEA-Scan makes a contribution unduplicated by CT, MRI, ultrasound, or any other competitive modality. Unlike standard diagnostic modalities, CEA-Scan detects metastases by physiology, not anatomy – specifically, by demonstrating the presence of tissue that expresses carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA). It detects tumors in patients with normal blood CEA levels, because virtually all primary and metastatic colorectal tumors express CEA, even those that don’t express enough to be detected on blood assay. It can demonstrate tumors as small as a few millimeters because the angiogenesis of those tumors provides them with a rich blood supply assures perfusion with the radiolabeled CEA-Scan antibody. Thus, it can detect disease in lymph nodes and other organs often missed by other modalities and intraoperative inspection.
• Surgeons from top institutions participating in the pivotal trials believe CEA-Scan can stage patients – and thus, help them to better stage-adjust their procedures. In those pivotal trials, the investigators concluded that, "In a proportion of patients with locoregionally advanced primary disease, [CEA-Scan] disclosure of previously unrecognized additional tumor deposits could materially affect surgical decisionmaking and decisions regarding postoperative adjuvant therapy."⁹

This data, published in peer-reviewed journals, clearly demonstrate that

• Metastatic disease is common, despite judgment by current tests and surgery that patients have received curative surgery.
• Attempts to thoroughly resect colorectal cancer presents risks of complications that are extremely expensive, as well as life-threatening.
• CEA-Scan can help clinicians find that disease, and help them better determine how to most appropriately use the range of surgical, chemotherapeutic and radiotherapy tools at their disposal.