Any person with breasts should be tested from the age of 50 to 74 with a mammogram every 2 years.
Think you're at high risk for breast cancer? Talk to your healthcare provider first
Regular screening can help to catch any breast cancer when it is smaller and cannot be felt
Earlier diagnosis of breast cancer may give you more treatment options
Getting tested is FREE under OHIP
You can book directly with a Breast Cancer Screening Site if you are eligible. You do not need a referral to have a screening mammogram.
Breast Cancer Screening
Regular breast cancer screening can find breast cancers when they are small, less likely to have spread and more likely to be treated successfully.
Cancer screening is testing done on people who may be at risk of getting cancer, but who have no symptoms and generally feel fine. Screening can find breast cancers when they are small, less likely to have spread and more likely to be treated successfully. People ages 50 to 74 have a lower risk of dying from breast cancer when they are screened regularly with mammograms.
Most women diagnosed with breast cancer have no family history of the disease.
More than 80% of breast cancers are found in women over the age of 50
When breast cancer is found early, most people will survive for at least 5 years. However, if breast cancer is found later, only 3 out of 10 people will survive for at least 5 years.
Screening mammography can find breast cancers when they are small, less likely to have spread and more likely to be treated successfully. Your age and family medical history help determine when you should get screened:
If you are age 50 to 74, the Ontario Breast Screening Program (OBSP) recommends that most people in your age group be screened every 2 years with mammography.
Find your nearest OBSP site by calling 1-800-668-9304 or visiting Ontario Breast Screening Program locations.
Ontarians ages 50 to 74 do not need a healthcare provider’s referral to book a mammogram through the OBSP.
If you are age 30 to 69 and meet any of the following requirements, talk to your doctor or nurse practitioner about referral to the High Risk Ontario Breast Screening Program:
You are known to have a gene mutation that increases your risk for breast cancer (e.g., BRCA1, BRCA2, TP53, PTEN, CDH1)
You are a first-degree relative (parent, sibling or child) of someone who has a gene mutation that increases their risk for breast cancer (e.g., BRCA1, BRCA2, TP53, PTEN, CDH1)
You have a personal or family history of breast or ovarian cancer
You have had radiation therapy to the chest to treat another cancer or condition (e.g., Hodgkin lymphoma) before age 30 and at least 8 years ago
For every 200 people screened in the Ontario Breast Screening Program, about 18 are referred for further tests and 1 will have breast cancer.
Mammography remains the best screening test for most people. A screening mammogram takes an X-ray picture of the breast and can find breast cancers when they are small, less likely to have spread and more likely to be treated successfully.
Mammograms are considered safe and use a low dose of radiation. The benefits of screening and finding cancer early are more important than any potential harm from the X-ray. Most people will have normal mammogram results.
In order to do a mammogram, you will need to undress from the waist up. You will place your breast onto the mammography unit and a compression paddle will then come in contact with the breast, gently spreading the breast tissue out. This pressure lasts for a few seconds while the x-ray is taken and then releases automatically. Although this pressure can be uncomfortable, it does not harm the breast and helps to produce a much better picture for the radiologist. Usually four pictures (two of each breast) are taken. Please allow 15 minutes for the exam.
The Ontario Breast Screening Program directly notifies participants (with or without a primary care provider) of their normal results by mail. The letter will also tell participants when to get screened again. The screening site also sends normal screening results to a screening participant’s primary care provider. In the event of an abnormal screening result, their screening site will notify their primary care provider and may help to schedule a timely follow-up appointment. A participant with an abnormal mammogram who does not have a primary care provider will be assigned to a doctor or nurse practitioner by their screening site to follow them to diagnosis. If the participant does have breast cancer, they will be referred to a specialist for further care and management.
Mammograms are the best way to find breast cancer early. But they are not perfect tests. Mammograms may miss some breast cancers. Also, some cancers develop in the time between screens. However, many studies have shown that regular mammograms reduce the risk of dying from breast cancer.
Some breast cancers that are diagnosed through screening may never cause symptoms in a person during their lifetime (i.e., over-diagnosis). Therefore, some people may have surgery or treatment for a breast cancer that would not have become life threatening.
Not all cancers found at screening can be treated successfully.
Where to get screened!
Ontarians ages 50 to 74 do not need a healthcare provider’s referral to book a mammogram through the OBSP.
To discuss this, make an appointment with your doctor or nurse practitioner. If you do not have a doctor or nurse practitioner, you can see the map below for your nearest clinic to have it ordered (if you do not fall within the ages of 50-74, who can access the screening test directly).
Below is a list of the current 12 clinics in our region where you can get a mammogram.
