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Breast Cancer Screening

What Is Breast Cancer Screening?

The goal of breast cancer screening is to detect cancer early and to successfully treat it. Mammography is currently the recommended test used to detect breast cancer.

It is important to find breast cancer early because :

There is a better chance of treating the cancer successfully
It is less likely to spread
There may be more treatment options
When breast cancer is caught early, 90% of women recover fully after treatment

The Ontario Breast Screening Program (OBSP) - a program administered by Cancer Care Ontario - provides mammography screening for women at average risk of developing breast cancer aged 50 years and older. Now, women aged 30-69 who are found to be at high risk for developing breast cancer will also have access to OBSP services including annual mammography and breast MRI screening. Find out more about this program expansion.

Time To Screen Tool. Quickly assess whether it's time to get screened for breast, cervical and colorectal cancer. Get started now.

What is a mammogram?

A mammogram is a low dose X-ray of the breast. The X-ray can detect abnormalities in the breast, even when they may be too small for you or your doctor or nurse practitioner to see or feel.

Regular mammograms are the most effective way to find early signs of breast cancer for most women. Mammograms use a low dose of radiation.

To find out more about mammograms, go to Frequently Asked Questions.

What is Magnetic Resonance Imaging?

Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) is a simple test that takes a very detailed picture of your breast and can help doctors and nurse practitioners find signs of breast cancer in women at high risk.

An MRI picture includes the soft tissue (like skin or muscles), your bones and almost everything else in your body. The MRI uses a powerful magnetic field, radio pulses and a computer to make the picture. An MRI test does not use radiation (X-rays). To find out more about Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI), go to the Frequently Asked Questions about the screening tests.