As of October 20th, 2020, Cancer Care Ontario (CCO) has recommended that primary care resume screening with FIT for ALL eligible people.
As a reminder here are some key things for FIT testing:
*FIT is for non-high risk patients age 50-74.
*High risk patients (+ FH colorectal cancer or a personal history of previous high grade polyp or inflammatory bowel disease) should be screened with a colonoscopy.
*After we fax the requistion in to lifelabs, they mail the kit to the patient’s home and it is barcoded with name, DOB and OHIP number
* Remind your patient to put the date of collection on the kit
*No dietary or medication restrictions are needed prior to collection
*One stool sample only is needed by inserting the stick 1 cm into the stool – no scooping is required and in fact this can invalidate the test.
*Ask patients to mail the kit back within two days to prevent rejection
*Requisitions expire after 6 months so we are all likely getting notification of this now as kits were not mailed March to August 2020
*FIT is twice as sensitive as FOBT (82% vs. 38% sensitivity with no drop in specificity)
*For positive FIT tests, please refer to a hospital near you using this Colonoscopy Referral Form.
CCO is asking that we do not BATCH fax requisitions so patients can avoid long wait times for kit delivery. There could be up to a 4-6 week delay in receiving the kit so please don’t send a duplicate requisition.
Let’s get back to screening for colorectal cancer. It is a really good test AND it is something we can offer our patients even during virtual care!