Patent ID: 6964846

Claim:
A method for screening a patient for a colorectal cancer or a colorectal precancer, the method comprising the steps of: detecting in a patient stool sample comprising exfoliated cells or cellular debris a first amount of a long nucleic acid of a length greater than 200 base pairs in length; wherein said long nucleic acid is present in both normal and cancerous or precancerous cells; comparing the first amount of long nucleic acid in said patient stool sample to a second amount of said long nucleic acid present in a stool sample from patient free of colorectal cancer or precancer; determining whether said first amount of long nucleic acid exceeds the second amount of long nucleic acid in said sample from a patient free of colorectal cancer or precancer; and; identifying a positive screen for an indicator of a colorectal cancer or precancer if said amount of long nucleic acid in said patient stool sample does exceed said second amount of long nucleic acid in said sample from a patient free of colorectal cancer or precancer.