Ontario has lowered its colorectal cancer screening age to 45. But should it be lower?

A few years ago, Kate Walker felt something was off in her body, but she says wasn’t getting anywhere figuring out what was wrong as she navigated the health-care system.

“I was told over and over, ‘You’re too young, you’re not at risk. It’s probably just hemorrhoids,'” she said.

Walker ended up getting testing done through private health care. Her diagnosis was stage 3 colon cancer. She was only 37 years old at the time.

“The fact that I had to go through everything I did to get that diagnosis is horrifying to me because the privilege I had to leverage is so inaccessible to most of the population,” she said.

Starting July 1, Ontario is lowering the screening age for colon cancer to 45 years old from 50. Groups like the Canadian Cancer Society have been pushing for the change, citing evidence that shows people under 50 are two to two-and-a-half times more likely to be diagnosed than they were in previous generations.

But while patients and advocates who have lost loved ones to the disease say this is a step in right direction, some hope to see the age lowered even further.

“Forty-five is is a good start, but I don’t think it’s where we need to be,” Walker said.

Carlito Parra, 20, lost his father Nickolas to colon cancer last year. Parra said after his father was diagnosed, he brought a petition to Queen’s Park with more than 30,000 signatures fighting for the screening age to be lowered.

“They could have found it when he was in his early 30s, and he might have still been here today,” Parra said, adding his father complained of stomach issues for more than 15 years.

“But because of the late screening, he sadly has passed away now.”

Province won’t say it will consider lowering age further

The Ministry of Health says an insured person is referred for a colonoscopy due to signs or symptoms of disease, and a colonoscopy is insured under OHIP, regardless of age.

“In addition, individuals at increased risk for colon cancer due to family history; or presence of bowel disorders that predispose to malignancy are also eligible to receive OHIP-insured colonoscopy services,” ministry spokesperson Ria Yadav said in a statement.

The province says individuals with familial risk should also begin getting colonoscopies at age 40, or 10 years earlier than the youngest age a relative was diagnosed with colon cancer, whichever comes first.

But the ministry would not say if its considering lowering the age further.

Surgeon ‘wouldn’t be surprised’ is age is lowered again

Dr. Sami Chadi, a colorectal surgeon at University Health Network, says clinicians and surgeons have noticed increasing number of cases of colorectal cancer in younger patients over the last decade.

“Last week I saw two patients in their 30s diagnosed, and one patient in in their late 20s,” he said.

WATCH | Why colon cancer is affecting people at a younger age:

Why colon cancer is affecting people at a younger age

Colon cancer is the second leading cause of cancer death in Canada and is affecting younger people at higher rates. CBC’s Stephen Quinn spoke with The Early Edition’s medical columnist Dr. Peter Lin about what people need to watch out for and what could be the cause of increasing rates for people under 50.

Chadi believes before any further changes are made to the screening process, health officials will first observe how the current changes impact patients and the number of cases.

“I wouldn’t be surprised if it gets lowered even further in the future based off of what we’re seeing, but I also think we also need to focus a bit more on the prevention side of things and on the information side,” he said.

Some patients feel uncomfortable sharing symptoms that have to do with changes in their bowel movements and blood in their stool, he says.

Walker, who is now cancer-free at 42, agrees.

She hopes the change sparks more conversation about symptoms and makes young people more aware of the risk.

“People are aware of it, but we have to keep pushing,” she said.

Meanwhile, Parra plans to continue fighting for awareness and more accessible screenings to honour his father’s legacy.

“He was in the scariest time of his life, and the one thing he wanted to do was to help others. It’s inspiring, and I hope to continue that for him.”