Report calls for new approach to Ontario's breast and colon cancer care

Ontario needs to improve the way it cares for breast and colon cancer patients taking protective chemotherapy, nearly half of whom are making unplanned visits to overburdened emergency rooms, according to a new evaluation of cancer care in Canada’s most populous province. The Cancer System Quality Index, released Tuesday, shows that 46 per cent of colon cancer patients and 43 per cent of breast cancer patients who received chemotherapy after surgery turned to ERs at least once, an outcome that suggests oncologists and family doctors are not doing enough to help patients cope with the toxic side effects of their therapy. Read more here.