Colorectal cancer (CRC) is a leading cause of cancer related death in Europe and the USA. There is no universally accepted effective non-invasive screening test for CRC. Guaiac based faecal occult blood (gFOB) testing has largely been superseded by Faecal Immunochemical testing (FIT), but sensitivity still remains poor. The uptake of population based FOBt testing in the UK is also low at around 50%. The detection of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) signature(s) for many cancer subtypes is receiving increasing interest using a variety of gas phase analytical instruments. One such example is FAIMS (Field Asymmetric Ion Mobility Spectrometer). FAIMS is able to identify Inflammatory Bowel disease (IBD) patients by analysing shifts in VOCs patterns in both urine and faeces. This study extends this concept to determine whether CRC patients can be identified through non-invasive analysis of urine, using FAIMS. 133 patients were recruited; 83 CRC patients and 50 healthy controls. Urine was collected at the time of CRC diagnosis and headspace analysis undertaken using a FAIMS instrument (Owlstone, Lonestar, UK). Data was processed using Fisher Discriminant Analysis (FDA) after feature extraction from the raw data. FAIMS analyses demonstrated that the VOC profiles of CRC patients were tightly clustered and could be distinguished from healthy controls. Sensitivity and specificity for CRC detection with FAIMS were 88% and 60% respectively. This study suggests that VOC signatures emanating from urine can be detected in patients with CRC using ion mobility spectroscopy technology (FAIMS) with potential as a novel screening tool.

SUMMARY BackgroundThe diagnosis of colorectal cancer (CRC) can be difficult as symptoms are variable with poor specificity. Thus, there is a quest for simple, non-invasive testing that can help streamline those with significant colonic pathology.

Objective To test whether offering financial incentives to patients with psychotic disorders is effective in improving adherence to maintenance treatment with antipsychotics.Design Cluster randomised controlled trial.Setting Community mental health teams in secondary psychiatric care in the United Kingdom.Participants Patients with a diagnosis of schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorder, or bipolar disorder, who were prescribed long acting antipsychotic (depot) injections but had received 75% or less of the prescribed injections. We randomly allocated 73 teams with a total of 141 patients. Primary outcome data were available for 35 intervention teams with 75 patients (96% of randomised) and for 31 control teams with 56 patients (89% of randomised).Interventions Participants in the intervention group were offered £15 (€17; $22) for each depot injection over a 12 month period. Participants in the control condition received treatment as usual.Main outcome measure The primary outcome was the percentage of prescribed depot injections given during the 12 month intervention period.Results 73 teams with 141 consenting patients were randomised, and outcomes were assessed for 131 patients (93%). Average baseline adherence was 69% in the intervention group and 67% in the control group. During the 12 month trial period adherence was 85% in the intervention group and 71% in the control group. The adjusted effect estimate was 11.5% (95% confidence interval 3.9% to 19.0%, P=0.003). A secondary outcome was an adherence of ≥95%, which was achieved in 28% of the intervention group and 5% of the control group (adjusted odds ratio 8.21, 95% confidence interval 2.00 to 33.67, P=0.003). Although differences in clinician rated clinical improvement between the groups failed to reach statistical significance, patients in the intervention group had more favourable subjective quality of life ratings (β=0.71, 95% confidence interval 0.26 to 1.15, P=0.002). The number of admissions to hospital and adverse events were low in both groups and did not show substantial differences.Conclusion Offering modest financial incentives to patients with psychotic disorders is an effective method for improving adherence to maintenance treatment with antipsychotics.Trial registration Current Controlled Trials ISRCTN77769281.

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