Ontarians Encouraged To Get Checked During Colon Cancer Awareness Month

Sunday, 1 March 2020 07:15

Ontarians can now get checked using a free-at-home screening test called the fecal immunochemical test (FIT), a safe and painless test that checks your stool for tiny amounts of blood, which could be caused by colon cancer or pre-cancerous polyps.

ONTARIO - March is Colon Cancer Awareness Month.

In partnership with Ontario Health (Cancer Care Ontario), the South West Regional Cancer Program is encouraging people 50 to 74 years old to talk to their family doctor or nurse practitioner about a checkup for colon cancer.

They say it is now easier to get checked for it in Ontario with the introduction of the fecal immunochemical test (FIT).

FIT was introduced in 2019 and it is a free-at-home screening test available across the province for people who are eligible through Ontario's organized colon cancer screening program, ColonCancerCheck. The ColonCancerCheck program looks at two different groups of people across Ontario for colon cancer; people who are at average risk and people who are at an increased risk.

If you are at an average risk with no symptoms, ColonCancerCheck recommends you get checked with the FIT every two years, while people who are at an increased risk with no symptoms get checked with a colonoscopy.

According to a press release from the SWRCP, FIT is a safe and painless test that checks your stool for tiny amounts of blood, which could be caused by colon cancer or pre-cancerous polyps. If the test result comes back abnormal, a follow-up colonoscopy is scheduled within eight weeks.

The SWRCP says colon cancer is the second most common cause of cancer death in Ontario.

Last year, approximately 9,100 people in Ontario (about 4,900 men and 4,200 women) were diagnosed with colon cancer and about 3,150 people (1,650 men and 1,500 women) died of the disease.

If you are between the ages of 50 to 74, the SWRCP says you should talk to your family doctor or nurse practitioner about getting checked for colon cancer, and including whether FIT is right for you.

LifeLabs will mail a FIT kit to people who are eligible in Ontario to a mailing address of their choice after a request from their family doctor, nurse or through Telehealth Ontario.

If you do not have a family physician or nurse practitioner, you can call Telehealth Ontario at 1-866-828-9213. They say people living in a First Nation community may also visit a health centre or nursing station to find out whether they are eligible for FIT.

The SWRCP says once you have completed the test, the FIT can be mailed back to LifeLabs or dropped off at a LifeLabs Patient Service Centre. To learn more, you can visit here.