By Patricia A. Scheyer
NKyTribune reporter
St Elizabeth Healthcare is offering free testing on Saturday, October 5, to uninsured women in Kentucky, Indiana, and Ohio. There will be free mammograms and free cervical Cancer screenings at St Elizabeth Edgewood Cancer Center from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m.
As part of a program called See, Test, and Treat, officials want to kick off Breast Cancer Awareness month with this proactive program to make sure people are thinking about the fact that one in eight women will be diagnosed with breast cancer in their lifetime and that there were 660,000 new cases of cervical cancer in 2022 worldwide.
In 2024, an estimated 310,720 new cases of invasive breast cancer are expected to be diagnosed in women. If breast cancer is detected early, and is in the localized stage, the 5 year relative survival rate is 99%. Breast cancer is the most common cancer in women, except for some skin cancers.
If a woman has a close relative who has been diagnosed with breast cancer, her chance of breast cancer nearly doubles. Statistics show that about 5 to 10 percent of breast cancers are connected to known gene mutations, most commonly in the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes.
There were approximately 660,000 new cases of cervical cancer worldwide in 2022, and that made it the fourth most common cancer in women. About 11,500 new cases are diagnosed annually in the United States.
More than 20% of cases are found in women over 65, but women between the ages of 35 and 44 are the most often diagnosed cases of cervical cancer.
“We will also be offering other health services, such as blood pressure screenings, HPV vaccines genetic testing information, and financial assistance, and more,” said a spokesperson for the event.
St. Elizabeth Healthcare has been trying to reach the amorphous group of uninsured women who tend to be overlooked many times in a quest to target all women. They have sent the Mammogram van out to various communities trying to get the word out to people that yes, they can have preventative cancer tests even if they don’t have insurance.
In particular, this Saturday’s clinic is designed for uninsured women aged 21 to 65 in need of a PAP test, as well as uninsured women aged 40 to 74 in need of a mammogram.
Women who are not covered by insurance can take this opportunity to get vital testing everyone should have.