Newfoundland and Labrador has some of the highest rates of colon cancer in Canada, but Eastern Health’s Cancer Care program is hoping to prevent more cases of colon cancer thanks to a simple home test kit.
Risk factors for colon cancer include being 50 or older, having a family history of colorectal cancer or polyps, eating a diet high in red meat and low in fiber, not exercising enough, being obese, smoking, drinking alcohol excessively and having personal history of Crohn’s Disease or ulcerative colitis.
Colon cancer generally develops from tiny growths called polyps inside the colon or rectum. Polyps start out as small harmless growths, but some may turn into cancer as they grow larger. If you have trace amounts of blood in your stool, it could mean you have polyps (which can be easily removed during a colonoscopy).
Scott Antle, manager of the Colon Screening Program, says colon cancer may not have or show any symptoms or warning signs in its early stages, so it’s very important for people between the ages of 50 and 74 to ask for this at-home screening test.
Newfoundland and Labrador residents between the ages of 50 and 74 — with a normal risk for colon cancer — can chat with their primary care provider about obtaining a FIT (Fecal Immunochemical Test) kit, or they can go online or call 1-855-614-0144 to request one.
After answering a few basic questions and providing your health card number, a test kit will be mailed to your home. Everything you need is in the kit, including two tubes to collect the stool samples from two different bowel movements and postage paid packaging to return the kit for testing..
“The test is done in the privacy of your own home, and there aren’t any dietary or medication restrictions with it — like needing to cut out red meat leading up to the test or stopping certain medications,” says Antle. “It’s easy to do, the samples will be checked for traces of human blood that can’t be seen with the naked eye.”
The samples must be processed within 15 days of collection, so the test kit is pre-addressed with prepaid express postage. When you’re ready to return the kit, Antle says you simply bring it to any Canada Post outlet and drop it off.
Your testing kit will be analyzed at a lab and results are sent to you and your primary care provider.. If your test is negative, you will receive a letter in the mail and a copy will be sent to your primary care provider. You will automatically be mailed a new kit every two years — up until you pass the age of 74 — so you can continue to be screened through the program.
If your test shows the presence of blood in your stool, a nurse will telephone you to discuss your results and work with you to schedule a colonoscopy.
“The nurses do a wonderful job explaining the test result and process to each patient and answering any questions they may have,” says Antle. “The patients receive excellent care and develop nice relationships with the nurses leading up to the colonoscopy procedure.”
Eastern Health introduced the Newfoundland and Labrador Colon Cancer Screening Program back in 2012 and expanded it over the following three years until it was a province-wide initiative. Antle says their numbers have been growing steadily as they work to increase awareness.
“Colon cancer really can be prevented. If we detect blood in your stool from a polyp, we can remove the polyp — and the risk — before it may become dangerous,” says Antle. “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.”
For more information on Newfoundland and Labrador’s Colorectal Cancer Screening Program or to request your FIT kit, please call 1-855-614-0144 or visit cancercare.easternhealth.ca/prevention-and-screening/colon-cancer-screening.
