BATON ROUGE - October is Breast Cancer Awareness month, and Louisiana has the third highest breast cancer death rate in the country. It's important to make sure you are taking opportunities to get checked.

On Monday, Mary Bird Perkins Cancer Center offered free screenings from 9 a.m. until 2 p.m. at Star Hill Baptist Church using their new mobile medical unit.

To observe National Breast Cancer Awareness Month, the cancer center has partnered with the Baton Rouge chapter of The Links Incorporated and the Louisiana Department of Health to provide early detection resources to community members.

Officials say it's important to get checked as soon as possible. Early detection, they say, is key.

"The sooner you can detect cancer, the more treatment options an individual may have access to that will improve their long-term survival," said Renea Duffin, vice president and cancer support with Mary Bird Perkins. "Once cancers are diagnosed at a much later stage, it's harder to treat and you have poor outcomes."

The cancer center also offered colorectal cancer screenings, as well as COVID and flu shots. To make an appointment for your screening, you can call (225) 425-8034. 

This event is one in a series of community events offered through Mary Bird Perkins' innovative Prevention on the Go program, designed to provide education and early detection services in locations where people live, work, worship, shop, and play.

Using the center's mobile medical clinics, the Mary Bird Perkins team travels throughout Louisiana and southwest Mississippi to serve thousands of participants each year. These events are supported by local partners to provide residents with greater access to cancer screenings in a convenient location close to home.