Grant: Operating Grant: Secondary Data Analysis for Cancer Prevention and Control

Cancer is an increasingly common problem for First Nations and Métis persons in Ontario: new cases are on the rise and outcomes such as survival are worse. Ontario has organized screening programs for breast, colorectal and cervical cancers as well a pilot screening program for lung cancer. First Nations and Métis community partners report that the design of the programs, including the starting age for screening, may not be appropriate for them. The current proposal is intended to address these potential disparities in access to cancer screening as follows: 1. By measuring the rate of new cases of screen-detectable (breast, cervical, colorectal, and lung) cancer and their survival by age, sex and stage; 2. By describing factors associated with these screen-detectable cancers; and 3. By determining participation with screening tests (including follow-up of abnormal screening tests) for breast, cervical and colorectal cancers in First Nations and Métis persons compared to the general population. This work will be carried out using existing databases, including registries of First Nations and Métis persons, housed at the Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences and at Cancer Care Ontario.