BC Cancer is offering free mammograms to the community by bringing one of their mobile screening vehicles to the Best Western on Columbia Street West from Jan. 17-21.
With a fleet of three digital mammography coaches that travel to 170 rural and remote communities, including more than 40 Indigenous communities, the service performs about 10% of the total number of screening mammograms in BC.
The vehicles provide state-of-the-art digital screening mammograms, as well as include a reception area, dressing area and mammography examination room, and are equipped with a wheelchair lift.
Dr. Colin Mar, medical director for the breast screening program, said more women in BC are being diagnosed with breast cancer, but fewer are dying from the disease.
“Mammograms save lives by detecting breast cancers early, often before they have spread and when treatment options are available,” he added.
A screening mammogram consists of four x-ray images that look for hidden cancer in those who have no symptoms of breast cancer. Mammograms can usually find lumps two to three years before a woman or her primary care provider can feel them.
Approximately one in eight women will develop breast cancer in her lifetime, with 3,500 women in BC receiving a diagnosis each year. It is the most common type of cancer found in women in the province, but research has shown a greater than 25% reduction in deaths from breast cancer among those who regularly screen, according to BC Cancer.
It is recommended that women between the ages of 40 and 74, who have or have had a mother, daughter or sister with breast cancer, receive a mammogram every year. Women ages 40 to 74 without a family history of breast cancer should schedule a mammogram every two years.
To book a mammogram, call 1-800-663-9203. A doctor's referral is not required.
For more information about breast cancer, visit BC Cancer’s website.
