PreventingCancer.ca

Breast Cancer Screening
If you are age 50 to 74, the Ontario Breast Screening Program (OBSP) recommends that most people in this age group be screened every 2 years with mammography. Click here to find out where you can get screened.

If you are age 30 to 69 and meet any of the following requirements, talk to your doctor or nurse practitioner about referral to the High Risk Ontario Breast Screening Program:

• You are known to have a gene mutation that increases your risk for breast cancer (e.g., BRCA1, BRCA2, TP53, PTEN, CDH1)
• You are a first-degree relative (parent, sibling or child) of someone who has a gene mutation that increases their risk for breast cancer (e.g., BRCA1, BRCA2, TP53, PTEN, CDH1)
• You have a personal or family history of breast or ovarian cancer
• You have had radiation therapy to the chest to treat another cancer or condition (e.g., Hodgkin lymphoma) before age 30 and at least 8 years ago

Cervical Cancer Screening
Getting screened regularly is important because it can find abnormal cells that could become cancer (called pre-cancers). Finding pre-cancers and treating them can prevent you from getting cancer. Treating pre-cancers is much easier than treating cancer and has a better chance of working than treating cancer after its developed.

Currently, the recommendation is that anyone with a cervix (women, transmasculine and nonbinary people) 25 and older who is or has ever been sexually active, should be screened regularly for cervical cancer. Based on the latest clinical evidence, most people should be screened every 3 years. Regular screening can stop at the age of 70 if a person has had three or more normal tests in the previous 10 years. Click here to find out where you can get screened.

Colorectal Cancer Screening
Getting screened helps find colorectal cancer early, when it is more likely to be cured. When colorectal cancer is caught early, 9 out of 10 people with the disease can be cured. If someone does not get screened, they could have colorectal cancer and not know it.

People ages 50 to 74 are recommended to get screened with the fecal immunochemical test (FIT) every 2 years. The FIT Test is a safe and painless test that checks your stool (poop) for tiny amounts of blood, which can be caused by colorectal cancer or some pre-cancerous polyps (growths in the colon or rectum that can turn into cancer over time). You can do this test at home and it only takes a few minutes.

To get your free FIT, talk with your family doctor. If you do not have a doctor, you can get a free FIT Test by contacting Health811. Once a FIT has been ordered for you, LifeLabs will mail a FIT package to your Ontario mailing address of choice.

Click here to find out where to get screened if you do not have a family doctor.

To find a family doctor or nurse practitioner, visit Health Care Connect at 1-800-445-1822 or online at:
https://www.ontario.ca/page/find-family-doctor-or-nurse-practitioner

Cancer screening may help prevent cancer by finding changes in your body that would become cancer if left untreated. Preventive screening helps find cancer early before you have symptoms when it is easier to treat. Early detection may mean less treatment and less time spent recovering.

The earlier a cancer is detected, the better your chance of survival.

Breast Cancer Screening
The Ontario Breast Screening Program will send each patient their results by mail. A copy of the results will also be shared with your family doctor. If you do not have a family doctor and received a mammogram from a Ontario Breast Screening Program location in Dufferin/Caledon, they will provide follow up if required. 

Cervical Cancer Screening
Ontario Cervical Screening Program will provide results to your family doctor for follow up. If you do not have a family doctor and received a PAP Test from a walk-in clinic in Dufferin/Caledon, they will provide follow up if required.

Colorectal Cancer Screening
After a FIT Test has been mailed or dropped off, results will be mailed to each patient a few weeks later.

Breast Cancer Screening (Mammogram)
Most people with an abnormal mammogram do not have breast cancer. More tests are needed after an abnormal mammogram to find out whether a person has cancer. These tests may include more mammography, breast ultrasound, breast magnetic resonance imaging and/or biopsies.

If you have an abnormal screening result, your Ontario Breast Screening Program location will notify your family doctor. Your family doctor can then guide you to additional testing.

If you have an abnormal mammogram and do not have a family doctor, your screening location cam help you find a doctor who will follow you to diagnosis. Or, you can call Cancer Care Ontario toll-free at 1-866-662-9233 from Monday to Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. to talk about next steps. They can help put you in touch with a doctor who can guide you to additional testing.

If you are diagnosed with breast cancer, you will be referred to a specialist for further care and management.

Cervical Cancer Screening (PAP Test)
An abnormal PAP Test result means that the cells taken from your cervix look different under the microscope than normal cells. Cell changes found through PAP Tests are very rarely cancer, but do require follow-up testing. Cancer of the cervix may take a long time to develop, and there are usually no early warning signs or symptoms. Regular PAP testing can find most abnormal cells in the cervix before they turn into cancer.

Your doctor will contact you if you have an abnormal test result. The Ontario Cervical Screening Program will also send you a letter telling you whether your test result is normal, abnormal or unsatisfactory, and provide you with next steps.

Colorectal Cancer Screening (FIT Test)
Most people with an abnormal FIT Test do not have colorectal cancer or pre-cancerous polyps. More tests are needed after an abnormal FIT Test to find out whether a person has cancer. It is recommended to get a colonoscopy if you receive abnormal FIT Test results.

Your family doctor can arrange a colonoscopy for further testing. If you do not have a family doctor, call Cancer Care Ontario toll-free at 1-866-662-9233 from Monday to Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. to talk about next steps. They can help put you in touch with a doctor who can guide you to additional testing.

ColonCancerCheck, Ontario’s colorectal cancer screening program, recommends that you have a colonoscopy within 8 weeks of an abnormal FIT result.