1. Available at http://www.cancercare.on.ca/cancerfacts.
More Ontarians need to be screened for colorectal cancer (Sept. 2012)
People aged 50–74 who have had a fecal occult blood test in the last two years, a flexible sigmoidoscopy in the last five years or a colonoscopy in the last 10 years are considered up-to-date with colorectal tests.
The percentage of people who are up-to-date with colorectal tests has been increasing, but almost half the eligible population remains unscreened.
Regular screening can detect colorectal cancer early, when treatment is most effective.
Ontarians aged 50–74 are under-screened for colorectal cancer, despite the fact that the percentage of those who were screened rose from 38% in 2006 to 53% in Although this is an improvement, it is concerning that a large percentage of the target population remains unscreened because colorectal cancer is the second-leading cause of Ontario cancer deaths after lung cancer and the third most common cancer diagnosed in the province.
Screening can detect colorectal cancer at the initial stage of the disease when treatment is most effective but often no symptoms are evident. When caught early, there is a 90% chance that people with colorectal cancer will be cured, compared with only 12% if the cancer is detected at an advanced stage.1
To help detect colorectal cancer early, Canada’s first organized, province-wide, population-based colorectal cancer screening program, ColonCancerCheck, was launched in Ontario in April ColonCancerCheck recommends screening every two years for average-risk people aged 50–74 using the fecal occult blood test (FOBT), with colonoscopy as a follow-up after an abnormal FOBT.
ColonCancerCheck also recommends colonoscopy for people at increased risk because of a family history of the disease (one or more first-degree relatives—parent, sibling, or child—with colorectal cancer) beginning at age 50, or 10 years younger than the age at which the relative was diagnosed, whichever occurs first. Flexible sigmoidoscopy has recently been shown to detect colorectal cancer early enough to reduce mortality, and ColonCancerCheck is exploring how to incorporate this test into the program.
For the ColonCancerCheck 2010 Report, go to  
References
Howlader N, Noone AM, Krapcho M, et al. (eds). SEER Cancer Statistics Review, 1975–2008, Table 6.12 Cancer of the Colon and Rectum. National Cancer Institute. Bethesda, MD, based on November 2010 SEER data submission, posted to the SEER web site, 2011.
Citation: Cancer Care Ontario. Cancer Fact: More Ontarians need to be screened for colorectal cancer. September 2012.
Available at
Prepared by staff in Prevention and Cancer Control.