Cancer screening kit comes to N.W.T. region with high rate of colorectal cancer

People in the Beaufort Delta region are among those with the highest rate of colorectal cancer in the Northwest Territories, and the lowest rate of screening for the disease. The Northwest Territories Health and Social Services Authority hopesto change that by making it easier for men and women in the region to be screened.

As part of a new pilot project, self-test colorectal cancer screening kits will be mailed out soon to every man and woman in Paulatuk and Ulukhaktok, between the ages of 50 and 74, who are considered at average risk of the disease that is, those with no history or family history of colorectal cancer.

The FIT (Fecal Immunochemical Test) kits help catch the cancer in its early stages through the collection of a small stool sample that can be examined for microscopic samples of blood, which may indicate the need for further testing.

The cancer is very treatable if caughtearly, says Melissa Mok, a territorial government specialist for cancer care. Nine in 10 cases can be cured if caught early, the health authority says, but the rate of screening for the disease in the region is just 16 per cent for those who should be screened.

"The goal for Canada is to have screening at 60 per cent," Mok said.

For now, the pilot project targets the Beaufort Delta, but Mok hopes the project will soon expand to other regions.

"We're hoping we can impact the region and have some positive change there first, and then hopefully roll it out to the rest of the territory," she said.

The N.W.T. would be among the last jurisdictions in Canada to take up what Mok calls an organized screening program.

"What we've found is that when we have an organized approach to screening, and we're mailing kits directly we've seen a real increase in participation [in other parts of Canada]."

But residents concerned about screening don't have to wait for the mail. Mok said anyone who would like to get the kit can get one at any health centre or clinic in the territory, or through a conversation with their health-care provider.

"We're trying to destigmatize cancer in the Northwest Territories," she said.