Canadians could prevent thousands of cancer deaths if they took a simple test involving poop and a stick, says an awareness group.
The Canadian Cancer Society released its annual report on cancer last Wednesday. About 6,100 Albertans are expected to die from cancer this year, according to the report, with about 670 of them succumbing to colorectal cancer.
Canadians could prevent up to 15,000 cancer deaths over the next decade if 80 per cent of the population over 50 did regular screening for colorectal cancer, says society spokesperson Sarah Hawkins. Right now, just 32 per cent of that age group bother.
"A lot of people when you talk about colorectal cancer automatically think 'colonoscopy' and right there they kind of zone out," she says, when asked to explain the low testing rate. But most screening tests for the disease don't involve sticking cameras up your behind, and only have to be done every two years.
Colon cancer
Colorectal cancer is the second leading cause of cancer death in Canada, according to the society, claiming about 8,900 lives a year.
Elmer Watson of Leduc was almost one of its victims. The 70-year-old was diagnosed with colorectal cancer five years ago after he went in for a hernia operation. "With me, I had no [symptoms] at all," he notes. The doctors only got suspicious when they noticed he was unusually low on blood. Had they not caught it then, the cancer would have likely spread.
The diagnosis led to six months of chemotherapy and a commitment to a colonoscopy every two years, Watson says. "Mine's due next month, and I already have an appointment."
No one's sure of what causes colorectal cancer, says Kim Raine, a professor of public health at the University of Alberta, but being obese, inactive and eating a lot of processed meat can all raise your risk of getting it.
Most patients have a 63 per cent chance of surviving for five years if they are diagnosed with colorectal cancer, Hawkins says, but that rises to about 90 per cent if it's detected early. "It really is a very manageable cancer if we can diagnose it at the early stages."
Check your colon
Watson says he's gone through about four colonoscopies over the years, each lasting about 15 minutes. "If you're brave enough, you can even watch them do it!"
The procedure involves putting a camera on a tube up your rectum so a doctor can search for polyps, or unusual growths, in your intestine. "Of course it's uncomfortable," he says, but the procedures have helped keep him cancer free.
Most people can use the less-invasive faecal occult blood test instead, Hawkins notes, which is available through most doctors. Essentially, you take a stool sample, use a stick to smudge a bit of it on a card, and send it in for testing. "These are non-invasive. You do it at home and you mail it in." The society recommends that anyone between 50 and 74 take this test every two years.
Residents can ward off colorectal cancer by keeping fit, avoiding processed meat and eating lots of vegetables, Raine says. "That's a lot easier said than done," she notes, given the number of fast-food restaurants around places like St. Albert. A junk food tax or bylaws limiting fast-food joints could help people eat right and avoid this disease.
Most people don't think much about cancer and let tests like this one slide, Watson says, and that's a problem. Cancer can strike anyone, and he's already had his 40-year-old children commit to screening too.
Anyone who's hesitant about getting screened should look in a mirror and ask one question, he says: "Do I want to see my children grow up?"
For details on screening, visit screeningforlife.ca.
