The South West Regional Cancer Program is encouraging Londoners over the age of 50 to take a painless take-home test that detects colon cancer.
The push to have more people screened for Ontario's second most commonly diagnosed cancer comes as the calendar flips to March - Colon Cancer Awareness Month.
“Many people don’t realize that colon cancer may be present in the body for a long time before it causes physical symptoms. The role of screening is to catch cancer early because it is highly treatable at that stage,” said Dr. Jan Owen, Regional Primary Care Lead for the South West Regional Cancer Program. “For people over 50, getting checked regularly can improve their chances of beating colon cancer. Men between the ages of 55 and 65 would particularly benefit from getting checked.”
In 2016, approximately 9,900 Ontarians were diagnosed with colon cancer and roughly 3,200 Ontarians died from the disease. Some of those deaths could have been prevented through the use of a fecal occult blood test (FOBT). The FOBT checks a person’s stool for tiny drops of blood, which could be caused by colon cancer.
When caught early, nine out of every ten people with colon cancer can be cured.
“I’ll be honest, people don’t generally get excited about taking an FOBT test,” said Dr. Owen. “I know it’s easier to let the collection kit accumulate dust on your bathroom counter, but the reality is it could help save your life.”
Few know that better than 51-year-old Paul VanBilsen. He was given a FOBT kit after a family member was diagnosed with colon cancer but he let the kit sit under his sink, unused for eight years.
“It wasn’t until last summer when my doctor put another test in my hands that I finally decided to ‘take care of business,'" said VanBilsen.
The test came back positive and VanBilsen was treated for stage one colon cancer. After having surgery to remove the cancerous tumour, VanBilsen is cancer-free but will continue to have follow-up colonoscopies to ensure no new cancer develops.
"Unfortunately, Paul’s story isn’t uncommon,” said Dr. Owen. “This makes it more important than ever to encourage the men and women in your life to get checked for this disease beginning in their early 50s, even if they have no family history of the disease or if they don’t have any uncomfortable symptoms such as persistent diarrhea or stomach pain.”
Colon cancer can develop when growths on the lining of the colon, called polyps, turn into cancer over time. People who have had polyps removed from their colon, as well as those with inflammatory bowel diseases like Crohn’s disease or ulcerative colitis, have an increased risk for developing colon cancer.
FOBT kits are available through family physicians or by contacting Telehealth Ontario at 1-866-828-9213.
