April is Cancer Control Month: Baptist Offers Prevention, Screening Program

Contact: Robby Channell, 601-968-5135 rchannell@mbhs.org

April 11, 2005 – Jackson, Miss. - Each year, the nation observes April as Cancer Control Month to highlight advances against cancer and rededicate the nation to fighting this disease. Baptist Cancer Services in Jackson, Miss. has joined the fight. Baptist's Protect & Detect Cancer Screenings offer unique opportunities to help assess risk factors for cancer diagnosis. Risk factors for cancer include environmental exposures, genetic makeup and lifestyle choices. Baptist's Cancer Services provides a certified family nurse practitioner to work with patients and provide personalized cancer risk analysis and an individual healthy lifestyle plan.

“This will help to identify ways to safeguard against cancer and to detect many cancers at their earliest stages,” said Stephanie Jackson, Baptist certified family nurse practitioner.

Jackson said healthy lifestyle habits hold the key to cancer prevention. “Many people think that cancer is inevitable, but for many types of cancer, that simply is not true,” Jackson added.

Between 65 percent and 85 percent of all cancers can be prevented by healthy lifestyle changes.

For a nominal fee of $25.00, Baptist screenings include a family history, lifestyle assessment and an examination of the neck, lymph nodes, skin and basic lab work. Based on the American Cancer Society guidelines, the screenings for the women include:

•  Pap smear
•  clinical breast examination
•  instruction on self-breast examination

The screening for the men include:
•  prostate specific antigen
•  digital rectal exam
•  testicular exam
•  instruction on self-testicular examination

“We discuss the exam results immediately and will provide a personalized Healthy Lifestyle Plan with recommendations for future screenings or exams,” Jackson said.

Any further tests that may be indicated as a result of the screening program, or based on the guidelines of the American Cancer Society, may be scheduled but are not included in the cost of the screening.

These may include, but are not limited to:
•  Detailed information on Nutrition and Diet Education
•  Genetic Education and Testing
•  Mammogram
•  Breast ultrasound
•  Chest CT (lung/spiral CT)
•  Sigmoidoscopy
•  Colonoscopy

For more information on the Protect and Detect Cancer Screenings click here or call 601-948-6262 or 1-800-948-6262.

:: Back to 2005 press releases