Prostate Cancer Most Frequently Diagnosed Cancer in Men

Mary Bird Perkins Cancer Center, St Elizabeth Hospital offer free prostate cancer screening

  Prostate cancer awareness is important during any month but especially during September, the month designated as National Prostate Cancer Awareness Month. According to the American Cancer Society, other than skin cancer, prostate cancer is the most frequently diagnosed cancer in men. African American men are disproportionately affected, with a prostate cancer incidence two-thirds higher than whites and a mortality rate twice as high. Due to these findings, Mary Bird Perkins Cancer Center and St. Elizabeth Hospital are partnering to offer a free prostate cancer screening during September to help detect this cancer earlier, giving more men a chance at beating the disease. Prostate screenings are for men age 50 and older who do not have a doctor or have not been screened in the past 12 months. African-American men and men with a family history of prostate cancer should consider being screened beginning at age 45. The prostate cancer screening is performed by a doctor and includes a PSA blood test and physical exam. Mary Bird Perkins Cancer Center offers free prostate screenings in Ascension Parish throughout the year. The following screening in September is brought to you by Mary Bird Perkins and St. Elizabeth Hospital:

Thursday, September 11 St. Elizabeth Hospital Medical Plaza II 1014 W. St. Clare Blvd. Gonzales, LA 5:30 p.m. – 7 p.m. Appointment not required

For more information, please call (225) 215-1234 or toll-free at (888) 616-4687.   About Mary Bird Perkins Cancer Center Mary Bird Perkins Cancer Center is a regional cancer care organization that has been fighting cancer for more than 40 years. With centers in Baton Rouge, Covington, Hammond, Houma and Gonzales, its service area encompasses 18 parishes across southeast Louisiana.  For more information, please visit www.marybird.org. About St. Elizabeth Hospital Sponsorship by the Franciscan Missionaries of Our Lady Health System (FMOLHS) has provided the means to expand and upgrade St. Elizabeth Hospital to meet the needs of the growing area it serves.  A 78-bed community hospital with 500+ team members and 100 physicians on staff, St. Elizabeth is one of four FMOLHS hospitals, including Our Lady of the Lake Regional Medical Center in Baton Rouge, St. Francis Medical Center in Monroe and Our Lady of Lourdes in Lafayette.