Usefulness of fecal lactoferrin and hemoglobin in diagnosis of colorectal diseases

Table 1 Comparison of fecal Lf and Hb between normal and abnormal groups

Group		Fecal Lf			Specificity	% (No.)
		+	-	Sum
Normal group
Fecal Hb	+	7	8	15	Lf	90.9 (289/318)
	-	22	281	303	Hb	95.3 (303/318)
	Total	29	289	318	P = 0.0176
Abnormal group
Fecal Hb	+	59	27	86	Lf	29.6 (164/554)
	-	105	363	468	Hb	15.5 (86/554)
	Total	164	390	554	P < 0.0001

Table 2 Sensitivity of fecal Lf and Hb in various diseases

		Sensitivity
Diseases	n	Hb > 100% (No.)	Lf > 65% (No.)
Colorectal cancer	36	50.0 (18/36)	50 (18/36)
Colorectal polyp	157	12.1 (19/157)	15.9 (25/157)
Ulcerative colitis	62	40.3 (25/62)	46.8 (29/62)
Crohn’s desease	40	32.5 (13/40)	62.5b (25/40)
Colorectal diverticulum	73	1.4 (1/73)	19.2b (14/73)
Internal hemorrhoids	142	4.2 (6/142)	27.5b (39/142)
Nonspecific colitis	20	15.0 (3/20)	20 (4/20)
Other diseases1	24	4.2 (1/24)	41.7b (10/24)

^bP < 0.01 vs Hb. 1Including 4 cases of previous intestinal tuberculosis, 4 of submucosal tumor, 2 of ischemic colitis, 2 of rectal carcinoid, 2 of Behcet disease, 2 of rectal mucosal prolapse syndrome, 2 of Cronkhite-Canada syndrome, 2 of Cowden disease, 1 of mucosa-associated lymphoma, and 1 of periappendiceal abscess.

Table 3 Diagnosis value using combination of fecal Lf and Hb

		Sensitivity
Diseases	n	Hb>100 orLf>65 % (No.)	Hb>100 andLf>65 % (No.)
Colorectal cancer	36	61.1 (22/36)	38.9 (14/36)
Colorectal polyp	157	25.5 (40/157)	2.5 (4/157)
Ulcerative colitis	62	51.6 (32/62)	35.5 (22/62)
Crohn’s desease	40	67.5 (27/40)	27.5 (11/40)
Colorectal diverticulum	73	19.2 (14/73)	1.4 (1/73)
Internal hemorrhoids	142	28.9 (41/142)	2.8 (4/142)
Nonspecific colitis	20	20.0 (4/20)	15.0 (3/20)
Other diseases	24	45.8 (11/24)	0.0 (0/24)

Table 4 Positive predictive value (PPV) of fecal Lf and Hb in colorectal diseases

		PPV
Diseases	n	Hb > 100% (No.)	Hb > 100 and Lf>65% (No.)
Colorectal cancer	36	17.8 (18/101)	21.2 (14/66)
Colorectal polyp	157	18.8 (19/101)	6.1 (4/66)
Ulcerative colitis	62	24.8 (25/101)	33.3 (22/66)
Crohn’s desease	40	12.9 (13/101)	16.7 (11/66)
Colorectal diverticulum	73	1.0 (1/101)	1.5 (1/66)
Internal hemorrhoids	142	5.9 (6/101)	6.1 (4/66)
Nonspecific colitis	20	3.0 (3/101)	4.5 (3/66)
Other diseases	24	1.0 (1/101)	0.0 (0/66)

Table 5 Comparison of fecal Lf and Hb in subjects aged over 50 yr

		Fecal Lf			Specificity	% (No.)
		+	-	Sum
Normal group
Fecal Hb	+	7	8	15	Lf	89.7 (217/242)
	-	18	209	227	Hb	93.8 (227/242)
	Total	25	217	242	P = 0.0776
Abnormal group
Fecal Hb	+	32	20	52	Lf	26.0 (108/415)
	-	76	287	363	Hb	12.5 (52/415)
	Total	108	307	415	P < 0.0001

Table 6 Sensitivity of fecal Lf and Hb in colorectal cancer

Colorectal cancer		Sensitivity
	n	Hb % (No.)	Lf % (No.)
Total	36	50.00 (18/36)	50.00 (18/36)
Early stage	17	11.80 (2/17)	29.40 (5/17)
Right side	5	20 (1/5)	40.00 (2/5)
Left side	12	8.30 (1/12)	25.00 (3/12)
Advanced stage	19	84.20 (16/19)	68.40 (13/19)
Right side	6	66.70 (4/6)	83.30 (5/6)
Left side	13	92.30 (12/13)	61.50 (8/13)

Note: n. number of cases.