The Canadian Cancer Society (CCS) releaed their 2017 annual report this week, unveiling new statistics about increasing cancer rates among Canadian citizens. 

The new report says that one out of every two Canadians will be diagnosed with the disease in their lifetime. 

“I’m not surprised," stated Dr. Joanne Sivertson, President of the Saskatchewan Medical Association (SMA), echoing the prime reason behind the CCS stats - longer life spans. "We’re seeing a population that is aging and age is the primary risk for developing cancer. We also see a population that is struggling with obesity (and) weight gain. 

Sivertson, a Prince Albert gynecologist, explained the link between some of the cancer cases she's treated and what she calls "making healthy dietary choices."

“The fat cells in the body actually convert steroid cells into estrogen,” she explained. “The estrogen then feeds tissues in the body, such as endometrial lining, and that lining, when it gets excess estrogen, starts to overgrow and it can become a cancer.”

Having said that, Sivertson acknowledges there is no perfect safeguard against the incurable disease. 

“Absolutely,” she stated. “There are going to be people who do everything right and still develop cancer. But we do know that the more risk factors you have, the higher the chances you will develop cancer.”

As SMA President, Sivertson says there is active dialogue between Saskatchewan physicians and the Ministry of Health about how to deal with the potential increase in cancer cases, and how that affects the allocation of healthcare funding.

“Partly we know our aging population is going to require more of our healthcare dollars," said Sivertson, who suggested that improving diagnostic technology can sometimes work against a patient's well-being.

"There are many examples of times when we pick up disease (on a scan), and it could be cancer, and we can actually do more harm than good," Sivertson explained. "There are many cancers that are indolent (that) would never actually kill a person. A person would die with the disease rather than die because of it. But because wer are picking up more of these, we’re treating more of these, and we’re causing increasing harm from cancer treatment." 

Sivertson says more research is needed to give doctors the ability to better differentiate between aggressive and non-aggressive forms of the disease, acknowledging that it would still be difficult for a patient to hear they have cancer but "it's not serious."

“This is the problem,” she said. "Once a person knows they have cancer it becomes very difficult for them to turn away (from treatment). “We need to decide when we are doing a right thing for a person in testing for these things. Full body scans will almost always pick up some sort of anomoly., but that anomoly is not always dangerous.”

Sivertson says this year the SMA endorsed the Choosing Wisely Canada and Choosing Wisely Saskatchewan campaign, saying "we need further uptake of these concepts so that people understand that more is not always better.”

Sivertson also issued a warning for those affected by cancer.  

“It’s important for people to recognize there is a lot of fear and vulnerability when it comes to talking about cancer. That is an area that less ethical groups may try to target and there is a lot of risk of people being taken advantage of."

What does she mean by "less ethical"? 

“There can be all kinds," explained Sivertson. "There are products on the market that make claims that various pills and other types of therapies can cure or help you avoid cancer.  They aren’t proven.  Where there is fear and uncertainty, there will be people trying to take advantage of you, so you need to look at the data.”