• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.4
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• pp.1791-1796
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• 2014

Background: Colorectal cancer (CRC) is a leading cause of cancer death among Vietnamese Americans, yet screening remains underutilized. We investigated the effectiveness of a culturally tailored DVD intervention in promoting CRC screening among unscreened Vietnamese Americans age 50 and over. Materials and Methods: Using a community-based participatory research approach, we conducted a trial comparing twenty-eight subjects who received a mailed DVD in Vietnamese, with twenty-eight subjects who received a mailed brochure in Vietnamese. Subjects completed telephone surveys at baseline, One-month, and one-year. The primary outcome was receipt of screening. Secondary measures were participants' knowledge, attitudes, and beliefs about CRC screening. Two focus groups explored the intervention's acceptability and effectiveness. Results: At one year, CRC screening rates of 57.1% and 42.9% were observed in experimental and control group respectively (p=0.42), Subjects in both groups showed increased knowledge about CRC after one month. Focus group findings revealed that the DVD was an effective method of communicating information and would help promote screening. Conclusions: The findings suggest that culturally tailored, linguistically appropriate content is more important than the type of media used. This relatively low intensity, low cost intervention utilizing a DVD can be another useful method for outreach to the often hard-to-reach unscreened population.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.14 no.8
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• pp.4699-4704
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• 2013

Background: MicroRNAs have been demonstrated to play important roles in the development and progression of colorectal cancer. Several studies utilizing microRNAs as diagnostic biomarkers for colorectal cancer (CRC) have been reported. The aim of this meta-analysis was to comprehensively and quantitatively summarize the diagnostic value of microRNAs for detecting colorectal cancer. Methods: We searched PubMed, Embase and Cochrane Library for published studies that used microRNAs as biomarkers for the diagnosis of colorectal cancer. Summary estimates for sensitivity, specificity and other measures of accuracy of microRNAs in the diagnosis of colorectal cancer were calculated using the bivariate random effects model. A summary receiver operating characteristic (SROC) curve was also generated to summarize the overall effectiveness of the test. Result: Thirteen studies from twelve published articles met the inclusion criteria and were included. The overall sensitivity, specificity, positive likelihood ratio, negative likelihood ratio and diagnostic odd ratio of microRNAs for the diagnosis of colorectal cancer were 0.81 (95%CI: 0.79-0.84), 0.78 (95%CI: 0.75-0.82), 4.14 (95%CI: 2.90-5.92), 0.24 (95%CI: 0.19-0.30), and 19.2 (95%CI: 11.7-31.5), respectively. The area under the SROC curve was 0.89. Conclusions: The current evidence suggests that the microRNAs test might not be used alone as a screening tool for CRC. Combining microRNAs testing with other conventional tests such as FOBT may improve the diagnostic accuracy for detecting CRC.