Cancer Care Ontario is encouraging local women to get screened for breast cancer.
October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month and women between the ages of 50 and 74 should undergo screening mammography every two years.
Regional Primary Care Lead in the Northwest Dr. Nicole Zavagnin says breast cancer has one of the highest survival rates of all cancers in Ontario if you get checked early.
She adds women between the ages of 30 and 69 who are at high risk should get screened once a year.
Dr. Zavagnin says breast cancer is the most common cancer among Canadian women, with one in eight women expected to be diagnosed in their lifetime.
She says Dryden residents can take advantage of their Screen For Life Coach when it stops in town.
Dr. Zavagnin notes this year some 700 women took advantage of the service when the mobile bus stopped in Dryden and Vermilion Bay.
The closest hospitals that offer mammography services are in Sioux Lookout, Kenora and Fort Frances.
In Ontario, it’s estimated that more than 10,000 women will be diagnosed with breast cancer and about 1,900 will die from the disease this year.