Cancer Center Schedules Free Screenings for Prostate Cancer Awareness Month

Free colorectal, prostate and skin cancer screenings offered during the month of September.

  Using advanced technology, Mary Bird Perkins Cancer Center at St. Tammany Parish Hospital offers prostate cancer treatment options with shorter treatment times and increased patient comfort. VMAT (Volumetric Modulated Arc Therapy) is an innovative tool used often to treat prostate cancer patients. Since treatment times are short, the risk of a patient moving is reduced, which enhances accuracy and increases chances for a successful outcome. VMAT delivers a dose of radiation to the prostate with pinpoint precision, and treatment times are at an average of 90 seconds. Prostate cancer is most common in men 65 years and older, but it is recommended that African-American men or those with a family history begin receiving screenings at age 50 or 45. The Cancer Center will offer the following free screenings for prostate and other cancers in September:

• Colorectal and Prostate Friday, Sept. 12 9 a.m. to noon Louisiana Heart Hospital, 64030 Highway 434, Lacombe
• Skin Friday, Sept. 19 12:30-3:30 p.m. Neilsen’s Pharmacy, 1619 as. Columbia St., Bogalusa
• Prostate Saturday, Sept. 20 9-11 a.m. St. Tammany Parish Hospital Community Wellness Center 1505 N. Florida St., Covington Reservations required by calling (886) 616-4687

Prostate cancer screenings include a PSA blood test and a physical exam performed by a physician. It is available to men 45 and older who do not have a doctor or who have not been screened for prostate cancer in the past 12 months. The colorectal cancer screenings are for men and women age 50 and older who have not been screened for colorectal cancer in the past 12 months. Easy-to-use kits will be distributed; however, they do not replace a medical exam or other screening procedure. The skin cancer screening is available to patients who have not had a physician perform a skin screening in the past 12 months and includes a visual exam performed by a physician. A physician will perform a visual exam for skin cancer and is available to patients who have not had a physician perform a skin screening in the past 12 months. For more information, call (888) 616-4687 or go to marybird.org/stph. Mary Bird Perkins Cancer Center at St. Tammany Parish Hospital provides comprehensive cancer care that strives to positively impact the lives of cancer patients and their families on the Northshore. Services include chemotherapy, radiation therapy and surgery, as well as patient navigation, clinical trials and free community screenings. Not only do patients have access to these vital cancer services and high quality cancer care, but these services are readily available close to home.