Fort St. John colon cancer survivor supports call to lower age requirement for screening

FORT ST. JOHN, B.C. — A Fort St. John cancer survivor  is supporting calls from the Canadian Cancer Society to lower the start age for early detection screening programs.

Denise Christie was diagnosed with colon cancer in 2019. Christie was forced to travel to Dawson Creek for emergency surgery, where it was discovered she had an 8.5-centimetre tumour. 

“I’d like to see more funding, more assistance to help people get treatment out of the area,” said Christie. “A lot of people do have to travel to Vancouver, to Prince George for treatment so there’s not a lot of funding to cover those costs.” 

The calls from the Canadian Cancer Society for a lowered age requirement for early screening come amid growing studies that show younger Canadians are being increasingly affected by colon cancer. 

According to a recent article by the Journal of the Canadian Association of Gastroenterology, lowering the age requirement to 45 for eligible screening programs would result in 15,000 fewer cases and 6,000 fewer deaths. 

Christie says if early screening programs were available for more Canadians, it would have made a huge difference in her diagnosis. 

“I was 42 when I was diagnosed and they figured it had been growing for about 10 years. So if I would have had screening beforehand, they probably would have caught it sooner.”

Currently, Canadians must be over the age of 50 to be eligible for early screening programs. 

March is Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month, which includes both colon and rectal cancer. 

These two cancers combined are the third most deadly cancers among both men and women in Canada. 

The Canadian Cancer Society estimates one in 17 men in Canada will develop colorectal cancer during their lifetime, and one in 40 will die from it. Likewise, one in 19 women are estimated to develop colorectal cancer and one in 42 will die from it. 

Despite being cancer-free since December 2025, Christie still pushes for awareness about colon cancer. 

“Back in my hometown, there is a walk for colon cancer awareness called Push For Your Tush. It’s kind of like the breast cancer walk that they raise money for awareness for colon cancer and research for colon cancer.”

While Fort St. John currently doesn’t have a Push For Your Tush walk, Christie says she can see herself trying to push for a similar event in the future.  

Symptoms of colorectal cancer include diarrhea, constipation, bright or very dark red blood in the stool, bleeding from the rectum and pain or discomfort in the rectum.

More information on symptoms can be found on the Canadian Cancer Society’s website