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Ninety per cent of deaths from colorectal cancer could be avoided,

A comprehensive new initiative aims to cut the number of deaths from colorectal cancer in Alberta by half.

Up to Ninety per cent of deaths from colorectal cancer could be avoided, says Dr. Richard Fedorak, a gastroenterologist and clinical leader for Stop Colorectal Cancer through Prevention and Education (SCOPE) and director of the University of Alberta's Centre of Excellence for Gastrointestinal Inflammation and Immunity Research (CEGIIR).

"Colorectal cancers are curable when detected early, at the stage when they are small polyps and easily removed. This cancer can be beaten with the knowledge we have today, said Fedorak. "But until now in Canada we've not focused our energies to find the disease early, before patients have obvious symptoms. We need a different kind of medical breakthrough - a population-wide program to identify people at risk, diagnose and treat them early."

SCOPE will roll out this fall, under the leadership of Fedorak and Marianne Stewart, Capital Health vice-president and chief operating officer (primary care).

SCOPE will build on the success of the region's chronic disease management model, said Stewart. A new website will help people learn about healthy lifestyle choices, risk factors and screening services, including when to seek care from their family doctor to be screened through a fecal occult blood test (FOBT).

Capital Health Link will help family doctors follow up FOBT results, and facilitate referrals to specialists as appropriate. Abnormal results will be followed up with patients and family physicians, to make sure patients are assessed and referred for diagnosis as appropriate (usually via colonoscopy). Results will be monitored in a database so that researchers can evaluate and refine the program, and develop and test new diagnostic tools.

Colorectal cancer kills more than 500 Albertans a year - more than any other cancer except lung. The Alberta Cancer Board (ACB) recommends all adults between the ages of 50 to 74 complete a FOBT each year, but estimates as few as 15 per cent actually do.

"Even a modest increase in uptake of FOBT could save dozens of lives a year in Alberta," said Dr. Heather Bryant, ACB vice-president. "But a comprehensive approach could have a much larger impact."

Education is critical, to get people engaged in managing their own health, said Fedorak.

"The program can only work if people have the screen test, just like a mammogram or a pap smear," he said. "Family physicians work hard to screen their patients appropriately for colorectal cancer and other diseases. The key is to support them by casting the screening net across the whole at-risk population, through a systematic program."

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Dr. Richard Fedorak

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Release link: http://www.expressnews.ualberta.ca/article.cfm?id=8289