Yellowknife (Apr 29/05) - If breast cancer is found in its early stages, the person has a 95 per cent chance of survival, according to Marcia Campbell.

"It's something that you can take charge of," said Campbell, project co-ordinator for the breast screening program in Yellowknife.

"When I can go through this town and I see those women we got early, I am so happy - I feel like I've done something right," Campbell said.

"It can save your life, it really can."

April is Cancer Awareness month for the Canadian Cancer Society and Campbell said the new self-referral campaign is a good way to get the word out about the breast screening program.

"The goal is to find breast cancer at its earliest stage," she said.

Available to women in Yellowknife, N'Dilo and Dettah, the program is directed at women who have no symptoms but are 40 years of age or older.

By telephoning the clinic, women are able to book a mammogram, a procedure which X-rays breast tissue, without a physician referral.

The mammography is done at Stanton Territorial hospital and results are mailed to the client and her family physician within two to three weeks, Campbell said.

The clinic has just received its national mammography accreditation through the Canadian Association of Radiologists.

"In our first year, we screened 1,103 women," she said of the pilot project which began in January 2004.

"The target is 70 per cent participation."