Mammothon is a breast cancer screening marathon to encourage as many women as possible who are overdue or who have never been screened to get up-to-date by completing a mammogram. 10 Ontario Breast Screening Program (OBSP) imaging sites are participating in the event to screen as many women as possible for breast cancer. The purpose of this large-scale campaign is to help address common barriers that prevent women from screening regularly for breast cancer including fear/embarrassment, limited time, and lack of awareness.
Breast cancer (BC) is the most common cancer in Canadian women, with 1 in 8 women expected to be diagnosed in their lifetime (Cancer Care Ontario [CCO], 2016). More specifically, Cancer Care Ontario estimated that 11,945 women would be diagnosed with breast cancer in Ontario in 2020 alone (CCO, 2020). Convincing evidence has demonstrated that early detection of BC with regular mammograms is the most effective way to reduce cancer mortality, and in many cases, enhance treatment options of BC if found early (CCO, 2015).
Participation in breast cancer screening in Ontario remains below the Canadian target (CCO, 2021) and as a result, there are still many women who would benefit from regular BC screening. Therefore, efforts aimed at increasing BC screening rates among women are needed.
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