South Georgia Medical Center is offering free clinical breast cancer screenings during October, which is National Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Two separate screenings will be held, the first on Oct. 15 at SGMC Family Medicine in Nashville and the second on Oct. 22 at SGMC’s Pearlman Cancer Center in Valdosta. Both screenings will be held from 5-7pm.

Registration is required and can be completed online at sgmc.org or by calling 229.433.4022.

Dr. Samuel Ofori, medical oncologist at SGMC’s Pearlman Cancer Center shared, “Thanks to earlier detection and improved treatment, deaths from breast cancer dropped 40% from 1989 to 2017. The 5 year relative survival for localized breast cancer in the USA is 99%. This means women with localized breast cancer are, on average, 99% as likely to live 5 years beyond diagnosis as women in the general populations. Early detection is key!”

According to the American Cancer Society, breast cancer is the most common cancer in American women, except for skin cancers. Currently, the average risk of a woman in the United States developing breast cancer sometime in her life is about 13%. This means there is a 1 in 8 chance she will develop breast cancer.

For more information on breast cancer screening, prevention, and treatment at SGMC visit sgmc.org/bca2020