A new campaign is encouraging all Yukoners aged 50 to 74 to get screened for colorectal cancer with an improved screening test available throughout the territory.

The program and awareness campaign were officially launched this morning at Whitehorse General Hospital. The test has been available since December.

As it was noted by a number of speakers during this morning’s press conference, March is Colorectal Cancer Month.

Along with the awareness campaign throughout the territory, those visiting the flexihall at the Canada Games Centre between 10 a.m. and 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday will have the opportunity to walk through a 12-metre (40-foot) giant colon.

In it, they will learn more about how the colon works and get healthy lifestyle tips, and information on colon-related diseases.

The giant colon is here as part of the Giant Colon Tour put on by the Colorectal Cancer Association of Canada.

It marks the first time the association has brought its giant colon to the territory, a stop that came through a partnership that also includes ColonCheck Yukon, the territorial government, Yukon Hospitals and the Council of Yukon First Nations (CYFN).

“Believe me when I tell you: this will save lives,” Frank Pitman, a cancer survivor from Montreal, and creator of the Giant Colon Tour, told those gathered at this morning’s press conference.

He recalled his own experience losing his younger sister when she was just 44 to colorectal cancer seven years before he was diagnosed with stage 2 colorectal cancer in 2007.

Pitman noted he and his other sister were not told after their younger sister died they were at a higher risk for colorectal cancer.

When he first started experiencing symptoms in 2005, he didn’t take them too seriously, though he did let his doctor know about them at a yearly checkup. His doctor got him on a wait list for an appointment with a gastroenterologist.

In two years, he never got that appointment, and it was only at his wife’s urging as his symptoms worsened in 2007 that he pushed for testing. In October of that year, he learned he had stage 2 colorectal cancer.

Fortunately, he said, the cancer was still at an early stage where treatment was effective.

He found though he was angry at himself letting it get as far as it did, he also felt let down by the health care system.

That experience and his sister’s death drove him to begin volunteering with the Colorectal Cancer Association of Canada.

He eventually took on his role in bringing the Giant Colon Tour to communities across the country in the hopes that more people will be screened and, potentially, tested to prevent the disease or to catch it in the earliest of stages as the earlier it is found, the greater the survival chances for patients.

As it’s noted on the ColonCheck Yukon website, if it is caught very early on, there’s a 90 per cent chance it can be cured.

“Colon cancer is the second-leading cause of cancer death in men and the third most common in women, yet it can be prevented or detected at an early stage,” it’s noted.

Encouraging everyone to come out to the Giant Colon Tour this weekend, Pitman described it as an informative experience, acknowledging there are usually a few laughs as well.

Also getting a few laughs at this morning’s launch was the campaign poster unveiled by Health and Social Services Minister Pauline Frost and the territory’s chief medical officer of health, Brendan Hanley.

The poster shows a picture of an outhouse. Underneath that are the words: “Wherever you sit, do the FIT,” referring to the new screening test available.

As officials at the press conference said, the new FIT test is much simpler than the previous test.

It tests for microscopic traces of human blood in a stool sample.

The previous test required a three-sample process and dietary restrictions such as not eating red meat for a period prior to taking the test.

The new test can be done much more easily, with just one sample and no dietary restrictions, as the results specifically detect human blood.

Hanley said that while blood in a stool sample does not confirm cancer, it is a “red flag” that shows there is something wrong. A colonoscopy can then be ordered to determine if there is cancer or another health issue.

Work has been done with the CYFN and other parties to ensure the awareness campaign and efforts to have those ages 50 to 74 tested throughout the territory reaches those in the communities.

With analysis of the test done twice a week at the Whitehorse General Hospital lab, patients get results quickly.

Inside the lab, quality assurance leader Penny Elliot said she’s noticed a substantial increase in the number of screening tests being done since they were made available in December.

While today marked the official launch, the tests have been available as part of a slower rollout leading to today’s launch.

“It’s really working,” she said of the efforts to have more Yukoners screened.

Those efforts will continue, with the campaign now in full swing.

Both Frost and CYFN Grand Chief Peter Johnston also highlighted the importance of Yukoners between the ages of 50 and 74 taking a proactive approach to getting screened.

“I can say how important this screening is,” Frost emphasized in speaking of the $228,000 territory-wide campaign, with Johnston highlighting the importance of raising awareness.