Campaign aims to Wipe out Colon Cancer

Pharmacists at 15 Loblaw pharmacies across northeastern Ontario will encourage their customers to get screened for colorectal cancer as part of a new campaign called Let's Wipe Out Colon Cancer.

The new campaign will target people between the ages of 50 and 74, who are most at risk of developing colorectal cancer.

“I feel people should get off their butt and get screened for all cancers,” said colorectal cancer survivor Judy Field.

After experiencing gallbladder problems in 2010, Field visited a specialist who asked, due to her age, if she had ever had a colorectaloscopy. She hadn't.

But Field listened to the specialist's recommendation, and her doctors discovered a spot that turned out to be colorectal cancer.

Because the cancer was discovered in the first stage doctors were able to remove it through surgery. Field did not require chemotherapy and experienced no side effects after the surgery.

Colorectal cancer is the fourth most common cancer in Ontario, and is the second most fatal cancer for men, and third for women.

But when it is detected early, the five-year survival rate is above 90 per cent, said Dr. Amanda Hey, the regional primary care lead with the Northeast Cancer Centre.

If the cancer spreads to the liver, however, the survival rate is much lower.

In Ontario, around 44 colorectal cancer cases are discovered per 100,000 people.

In the northeast, the numbers are higher, with 48 cases per 100,000.

“That's appreciably higher when it comes to a cancer rate,” said Hey. “You don't want to be trending up like that.

“The sad thing about colorectal cancer is that I don't think it gets the public awareness that other cancers have.”

Lynn Halliday, a pharmacist at Winkle's Your Independent Grocer, in Espanola, said pharmacists will actively promote the program, and encourage customers to take home fecal occult blood tests.

The tests allow a person to take their own fecal samples, which they can then send to a lab.

If the lab discovers a positive result, the person might need a colorectaloscopy to confirm whether or not they have cancer.

Halliday said anyone over the age of 50 should take the test, which only takes a few minutes to complete.