# Minnesota Colon Cancer Control Study

Source: https://onco.cc/trials/minnesota-fob/  
OnCo record `minnesota-fob` (Trial). Data CC BY-NC 4.0, attribute "Data from OnCo (onco.cc)"; commercial use needs a licence.

## TL;DR

The first randomised proof that a yearly stool test for hidden blood saves lives from bowel cancer, by a third over thirteen years.

## Summary

The Minnesota Colon Cancer Control Study randomised 46,551 volunteers aged 50 to 80 to annual screening, biennial screening or a control group, using rehydrated Haemoccult slides. At thirteen years cumulative colorectal cancer mortality per 1,000 was 5.88 with annual screening (95% CI 4.61 to 7.15), 8.33 with biennial screening (6.82 to 9.84) and 8.83 in controls (7.26 to 10.40); only the annual group was significantly better, a 33 percent reduction. The benefit came with a shift to earlier stage at diagnosis and better survival among those who developed cancer. Rehydration made the test far more sensitive and far less specific, so 38 percent of the annual group ended up having a colonoscopy, which is part of why later programmes moved to the faecal immunochemical test.

## Fields

- Kind: Trial
- Status: positive
- Last checked: 2026-09-24
- Also known as: Minnesota faecal occult blood trial
- Phase: 3
- Setting: Volunteers aged 50 to 80: annual or biennial rehydrated Haemoccult faecal occult blood testing against usual care
- Sponsor: University of Minnesota
- Enrolled: 46551
- Result: Thirteen-year colorectal cancer mortality 5.88 per 1,000 with annual screening against 8.83 in controls, a 33 percent reduction.
- Outcomes: Cumulative colorectal cancer mortality at 13 years: Annual screening 5.88 deaths per 1,000 vs Biennial screening 8.33 deaths per 1,000 vs Control 8.83 deaths per 1,000
- Replication: Nottingham and Funen found the same direction with unrehydrated, biennial testing and smaller effects (15 and 18 percent).

## Sources

- Minnesota: reducing mortality from colorectal cancer by screening for fecal occult blood (New England Journal of Medicine 1993): https://doi.org/10.1056/NEJM199305133281901

## Connected records

- cancers: [Colorectal cancer](https://onco.cc/cancers/colorectal/)
- fronts: [Early Detection & Screening](https://onco.cc/fronts/early-detection/), [Prevention & Risk](https://onco.cc/fronts/prevention/)
- technologies: [Colorectal cancer screening (colonoscopy, FIT, stool DNA, blood)](https://onco.cc/technologies/colorectal-screening/)
- terms: [Faecal immunochemical test (FIT)](https://onco.cc/terms/fit-test/)
- trials: [Funen faecal occult blood screening trial](https://onco.cc/trials/funen-fob/), [National Polyp Study](https://onco.cc/trials/national-polyp-study/), [NordICC (Nordic-European Initiative on Colorectal Cancer)](https://onco.cc/trials/nordicc/), [Nottingham faecal occult blood screening trial](https://onco.cc/trials/nottingham-fob/)

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