P.E.I. to become first province to lower colorectal cancer screening age to 45

Premier Rob Lantz announced P.E.I is the first province in Canada to lower the age of the routine test and it will take effect immediately.

“Waiting until 50 is no longer an option,” Lantz said at a news conference Monday.

Colorectal Cancer Canada and the Canadian Cancer Society recently called on all provinces to make the move as a growing number of people are diagnosed with colorectal cancer before the current routine screening age of 50.

They said people under 50 are two- to two-and-a-half times more likely to be diagnosed with colorectal cancer than they were in previous generations.

P.E.I. Minister of Health and Wellness Cory Deagle said about 140 new colorectal cancer cases and 39 deaths take place in the province every year.

“For every 100 additional colonoscopies, we expect to prevent nearly three cancer cases,” Deagle said, adding that the province has health care capacity for this expansion.

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Managing an uptick in volume will be possible because the province is small compared to its counterparts and only anticipates an increase of about 50 fecal tests per month, and about five colonoscopies, said Dr. Erin McCarvill, a family physician in oncology and Health P.E.I.’s medical adviser for cancer prevention, screening and early detection.

One third of those diagnosed with colorectal cancer on the island between the ages of 50 and 55 are already in advanced stages of the disease, spreading from their bowel to other parts of their body, she said.

“Screening at forty-five, for me, is going to get at those people. It’s going to get those early cancers, those pre-cancers and save that cohort from a lot of treatment and save those lives,” she said.

Colorectal Cancer Canada President and CEO Barry D. Stein applauded P.E.I.’s “major step forward,” but said there are still far too many people in this country “being diagnosed too late and too often.”

He encouraged other provinces to follow suit.

In routine screening, people between 50 and 74 years of age get a fecal immunochemical test — or FIT — to swab their stool at home and then either send or drop off the swab to a lab.

If the patient has an abnormal result, they will be contacted to book a followup, which may involve a colonoscopy or treatment.

Only 35 per cent of eligible islanders had a colorectal test in the last two years, Statistics Canada cancer screening data from 2024 shows, illuminating similar results in a number of other provinces. The national target is 60 per cent.

“I think everyone’s trying to figure out – how do we reach more people with this and how do we engage more people to be keen on screening? Now that we’ve changed this age, that’s our next project,” McCarvill said.

-With files from Nicole Ireland

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