Sandy Miller is acutely aware of the scourge of cancer.
When the Adelaide local's mother died of the disease years ago, she decided to have regular mammograms every two years.
It saved her life.
"It's just so important that you just do what you're being advised to do, take the treatment that's been recommended. If I hadn't I wouldn't be here now," Ms Miller told SBS World News.
Luckily for Ms Miller the early detection meant she could have removed the cancer via a mastectomy.
Breast cancer is the second leading cause of cancer deaths among indigenous women who are 16 per cent less likely to survive breast cancer than non-indigenous women.
But there are concerns some do not seek help early enough or do not stick with treatment.
Sandy said she had lots of relatives who had been diagnosed with cancer and died.
"People just don't talk about it and there's not enough information getting out about cancer and there's this view that if you are diagnosed with cancer you're just going to die," she said.
A new campaign targetting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women is aimed at changing that.
Titled 'Lots To Live For', the video is about raising awareness about early detection and increasing survival rates.
Jacinta Elston, who is chair of the Cancer Australia Leadership Group, is hoping the campaign will go viral.
"Our mob social media we love Facebook so I'm encouraging our communities to share it, have the conversation," she said.
Cancer Australia chief executive officer Dr Helen Zorbas said increasing participation in mammographic screening can address the disparity in breast cancer survival between Indigenous and non-Indigenous women.
"We know that for indigenous women their cancers are more likely to be diagnosed at an advanced stage and that means treatment options are fewer and survival chances are compromised so we want to shift that paradigm to earlier detection," she said.
