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The project, which received $220,000 in funding from the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care and Cancer Care Ontario and an additional $175,000 from the Northern Cancer Research Foundation for the equipment, is one of six pilot sites in Ontario. According to Dr. Gabriel Mapeso, a surgeon and the colorectal cancer lead for Regional Cancer Care, the rates of colorectal cancer are high in Canada and the disease is the “second-leading cause of death from cancer.” The disease often shows no symptoms in the beginning when it is easiest to treat, which makes early detection of colorectal cancer a must. The new project is centred around the introduction of a test directed at “average risk individuals” called a flexible sigmoidoscopy, a method that hospital officials said has been proven safe and effective and has been used for years in the United States and Britain. Performed by nurses thanks, a flexible sigmoidoscopy uses a small camera inserted into the colon to detect precancerous polyps in the colon so they can be removed before they could turn into cancer. It‘s all about preventative health instead of treatment, said Michael Power, Regional‘s vice-president of regional cancer services and diagnostics. “Screening works. Ninety per cent of colon cancers are curable, if caught early,” he said. “We want to be in a situation where we diagnose either colon cancer at the very early stages; or better yet, we identify what would be precancerous polyps, where a general surgeon or gastroenterologist would remove them before cancer would grow.” The project is also expanding opportunities for Thunder Bay‘s nurses, said Alison McMullen, Regional Cancer Care‘s director of preventative oncology. “This is a new opportunity for them to perform this procedure. This pilot project will assist in the recruitment and retention of nurses in our community,” she said. And for Dr. Mapeso, it‘s most important that people are aware this program exists so screening becomes much more widespread. “We‘re only capturing one-tenth of the people who are eligible for screening. We have a big potential to address this issue in Northwestern Ontario,” Mapeso said. He suspects people avoid colorectal screening because of the intimate nature of the process, something he thinks would be resolved with more education. “There was once a time when people were embarrassed to show their breasts to be examined and I think we‘re going through that period now with the colon. I‘m hoping with all of this push, people won‘t mind having their bottoms examined,” he said. Top of Page |
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September 2, 2010, 8:22 am |