New tests for colorectal screening now available in Manitoba

A new colorectal screening test is available in Manitoba, making it easier to determine if someone could have colon cancer.

The Fecal Immunochemical Test or FIT is now being used in Manitoba, replacing the fecal occult blood test.

"This is something that you can do at home and basically, you dip it in your poop and it detects hidden blood in your poop, and that is a good indication that you may have colorectal cancer," said Dr. Donna Turner, the chief of population oncology at CancerCare Manitoba.

One difference between the two tests is the FIT only has to be done once, while the old test is done over three days.

There is also new infrastructure in place that allows for up to 300 tests to be examined at a time.

"So the FIT test is a simpler test. You don’t have to change your diet. It's easy to do at home, and it's actually quite accurate. It's used every two years basically for the population between 50 to 74," said Barry Stein, the president and CEO of Colorectal Cancer Canada.

The new tests will be sent in the mail to all eligible Manitobans. CancerCare Manitoba hopes they will help increase colorectal screening rates in the province, which is currently at around 45 per cent - one of the best results in the country.

"When you include people who might have had a colonoscopy in the last five years, so they had symptoms, our rate goes up to 55 per cent who've had a colon exam in the last two to five years. But where we want to be for fecal testing is instead of being around 45 per cent, we would like to be at 60 per cent," said Turner.

In Canada, around 24,300 people are diagnosed with colon cancer every year and around 9,400 die from it.

In Manitoba in 2022, 810 people were diagnosed and 340 people died from the disease.

"Early detection means you can either prevent the disease by removing the polyp through a colonoscopy if the FIT test is positive, or curing the cancer if it's in its earliest stages and detected early," said Stein.

For those who have the old test at home, they are still encouraged to complete it and then they will get one of the new tests in two years.

On top of getting tests in the mail, Manitobans can also request them online, by phone or a health-care provider can request a test for their patient.

Turner says the new tests will be coming out in batches immediately, and CancerCare Manitoba is expecting 65,000 tests to be returned for examination this year.