Lawrence Cancer Center will be offering FREE prostate cancer screenings to mark National Men’s Health Week.

The screenings will be:

• from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. Wednesday, June 16.

• at 330 Arkansas St., Suite 120.

Who should get a screening:

• Men, ages 50 and older, should have a prostate cancer screening yearly.

• Men, ages 40 and older who are at risk, also should have a yearly screening.

“Twenty-eight thousand men will die from prostate cancer in 2010 and screening can lead to life-saving treatment for the 30 to 40 percent of men who have intermediate and high risk prostate cancer.

— Dr. Darren Klish, radiation oncologist at Lawrence Cancer Center

The tests

Each participant will undergo two screenings to check for prostate cancer:

• The prostate-specific antigen (PSA) blood test. According to the American Cancer Society, this test measures the amount of PSA in the blood. It is normal for men to have a low level of PSA in their blood; however, prostate cancer can increase a man’s PSA level. Routine tests allow your physician to track fluctuations in your PSA levels, which may potentially find prostate cancer at an early, more treatable stage.

• The Digital Rectal Examination (DRE) is a test in which your doctor puts a gloved finger into the rectum to feel for growths in or enlargement of the prostate gland.

Incentives, sign up

There will be snacks, giveaways and a drawing for two tickets to the T-Bones baseball game and a gift card to Free State Brewing Company.

Advanced registration is not required but is accepted.

For more information, call the Lawrence Cancer Center at 749-3600 or e-mail robbie.yoest@lawrencecancercenter.com.

Are you at risk?

• Age — It is the strongest risk factor for prostate cancer. The chance of getting prostate cancer goes up quickly after a man reaches age 50. Almost 2 out of every 3 prostate cancers are found in men older than age 65.

• Race — Prostate cancer is more common in black men than in men of other races. Prostate cancer occurs less often in Asian-American and Hispanic/Latino men than in non-Hispanic whites. The reasons for these racial and ethnic differences are not clear.

• Nationality — Prostate cancer is most common in North America, northwestern Europe and a few other places. It is less common in Asia, Africa and Central and South America.

• Family history — Prostate cancer seems to run in some families. Men with close family members (father or brother) who have had prostate cancer are more likely to get it themselves, especially if their relatives were young when they got the disease.

• Diet — The exact role of diet in prostate cancer is not clear, but some factors have been studied. Men who eat a lot of red meat or high-fat dairy products seem to have a greater chance of getting prostate cancer. These men also tend to eat fewer fruits and vegetables. Doctors are not sure which of these factors causes the risk to go up.

According to the American Cancer Society:

• Each year about 190,000 new cases of prostate cancer will be diagnosed.

• More than 2 million men in the United States who have been diagnosed with prostate cancer at some point are still alive today.