Ontario has announced that it will become the first Canadian province to set up a province-wide screening programme for the early detection of colorectal cancer. This type of cancer has the second highest death toll of cancers in Canada.
The Ontario government says its scheme is the first such screening programme in North America to use the faecal occult blood test. Other countries that already have such a programme are Australia, Italy, France, Finland, and Israel. The United Kingdom started rolling out its programme in selected areas last June.
The province, which calls this blood test “the only method of colorectal cancer screening that has been proven in randomised controlled trials to reduce deaths from colorectal cancer,” will make test kits widely available through doctors' surgeries, walk-in clinics, the healthcare helpline Telehealth Ontario, and pharmacies. The test kits are used at home. Small amounts of stool are applied to a cardboard slide. The test detects trace amounts of blood in the stool that cannot be seen by the naked eye and that may indicate the presence of cancer.
About 2% of people who complete the test and who have an average risk for the disease will show positive results and will need to be referred for a colonoscopy for further investigation. Cancer organisations recommend that everyone aged 50 or older with no symptoms and no family history of the disease should be screened. Those with a family history have a higher risk and should speak to their doctor about screening.
Ontario's health and long term care minister, George Smitherman, said that colorectal cancer that is detected in its early stages has a 90% chance of being successfully treated. In 2006 an estimated 7500 Ontarians were given a diagnosis of colorectal cancer, and 3100 died from the disease. Currently a fifth of people aged 50 or over are screened for it, by any method. The new screening programme, which will target Ontario residents with a family history of the disease and everyone aged 50 to 74, will cost the Ontario government C$194m (£84m; €127m; $164m) over the next five years.
The Ontario division of the Canadian Cancer Society has been advocating the adoption of a screening programme for years, said Peter Goodhand, its chief executive officer. He calls the new programme “a real success.”