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Letters to the Public About Cancer Screening

Cancer screening is testing done on people who may be at risk of getting cancer, but who have no symptoms and generally feel fine. Cancer screening tests are not meant to diagnose cancer. Instead, they help figure out which people are more likely to have cancer or get cancer in the future. Ontario Health (Cancer Care Ontario) runs province-wide organized screening programs for 4 types of cancer: lung, breast, cervical and colorectal (commonly called “colon cancer” or “bowel cancer”).

Ontario Health (Cancer Care Ontario) sends letters to people for breast, cervical and colorectal cancers to:

invite them to participate in screening
remind them when it is time for their next screening test
tell them their screening test results
tell them what to do if they have an abnormal test result

Once you qualify for breast, cervical or colorectal screening, you will automatically get a letter inviting you to get screened. You will also get something called a “privacy notice.” The privacy notice tells you about the cancer screening programs run by Ontario Health (Cancer Care Ontario) and how your personal information is protected. You can change your mind about getting letters at any time.

Ontario Health (Cancer Care Ontario) does not send letters for lung screening. For more information about lung screening, including information on who may qualify, see Screening for Lung Cancer.

Privacy & Alternative Format

Privacy

If you no longer want to receive cancer screening letters from Cancer Care Ontario or wish to change your personal information, simply do the following:

Download the Cancer Screening Programs: Participant Information Form.
Complete the appropriate sections.
Fax the completed form to 1-866-682-9534 or mail it to the address on page 2 of the form. Detailed instructions and contact information are provided on the form – for assistance, call 1-866-662-9233. To protect your privacy, please do not email the form.

If you attended an Ontario Breast Screening Program site before March 2014 you were asked to complete a consent form. We will continue to honour the restrictions related to the use of your personal health information. If you have questions about the status of your breast screening consent, call us toll-free at 1-866-662-9233 from Monday to Friday between 8:30 a.m. and 5 p.m. or send an email to screenforlife@cancercare.on.ca.

For more information about how we protect your privacy, read our Personal Health Information Frequently Asked Questions.

Alternative Format

If you receive a cancer screening letter and need it in an alternate format, please contact our communications department at:

Phone: 1-855-460-2647
TTY: 416-217-1815
Email: publicaffairs@cancercare.on.ca

Types of Letters

Results Notifications

After screening tests are analyzed, participating labs and screening centres inform your doctor and Cancer Care Ontario about your results. We notify you of your test results in the following ways:

Normal result – We notify all participants (with or without family doctors) about normal results by mail. The letter tells you that your result is normal and advises you when to get screened again, unless there is a change in your family history of cancer or you notice possible symptoms of cancer (in both cases you are advised to see your doctor).
Abnormal result (participants with a doctor) — Your doctor will inform you about your abnormal result and provide you with next steps. We also send letters to you to tell you that your result is abnormal and advise you to see your doctor for follow-up if you
Abnormal result (participants without a doctor) — We will contact you by mail and telephone to make sure you are referred to a doctor, who will then provide you with next steps.
Unsatisfactory result – We notify you if the laboratory rejects your Pap test or fecal immunochemical test or the result could not be read; in both cases, a retest is needed. For colorectal screening, you will be advised to contact your doctor to get another kit. If you don’t have a doctor, we advise you to contact Telehealth Ontario to get another kit. For cervical screening, you will be advised to contact your doctor, nurse practitioner or clinic to arrange for another Pap test.

Recall Notifications

After a normal test, we send recall letters to eligible average risk participants reminding them to re-screen in 2 years for breast and colorectal cancer, and 3 years for cervical cancer.

Reminder Letters

We also send reminder letters to participants who haven’t responded after receiving certain letters.

Privacy Notice

The privacy notice tells you about our cancer screening programs and how your information is protected.

Physician-Linked Letters

Physician-linked correspondence includes physicians’ names in the cancer screening letters mailed to their patients.

Colorectal Screening

We send letters through ColonCancerCheck to men and women ages 50 to 74 who have never been screened before or who are due for their next screening test. The letters invite them to talk to their family doctor about colorectal cancer screening.

Samples of Letters

Correspondence privacy notice (Included in participant's FIT kit)

Invitation letter

Invitation reminder letter

Recall letter

Recall reminder letter

Normal result letter

Unsatisfactory result letter

Unsatisfactory result reminder letter

Abnormal result letter (for a participant with a doctor)

Abnormal result letter (for a participant without a doctor)

Abnormal result reminder letter (for a participant with a doctor)

Physician-linked invitation letter

Physician-linked invitation reminder letter

Physician-linked recall letter

Physician-linked recall reminder letter

For information on what an abnormal fecal immunochemical test (FIT) result means and what happens next, see the Abnormal FIT Result FAQs.

Cervical Screening

We mail letters to eligible women ages 30 to 69 inviting them to book a Pap test through the Ontario Cervical Screening Program. We also send letters to women ages 21 to 69 to inform them of their test results and remind them when it is time to return for screening.

Samples of Letters

Correspondence privacy notice

Invitation and recall letter

Invitation and recall reminder letter

Normal result letter

Unsatisfactory result letter

Abnormal result letter

Abnormal result reminder letter

For information on what an abnormal Pap test result means and what happens next, download the fact sheet What your abnormal Pap test means.

Breast Screening

We mail letters to women eligible for screening through the Ontario Breast Screening Program (OBSP) inviting them to get screened for breast cancer, and providing information about breast cancer screening and details on how to find an OBSP site.

In addition, we send letters to women ages 50 to 74 reminding them when to get screened again and informing them of their results, if they are normal. OBSP sites send normal and abnormal screening results to a woman’s healthcare provider and follow-up on abnormal screening results.