Haircut, shave...and prostate screening. The NCCCP's Cancer Program at Our Lady of the Lake and Mary Bird Perkins partnered with a local barber shop to offer free prostate screening to African American men in Baton Rouge. See more photos 

Spotlight on Baton Rouge, Louisiana

The Cancer Program of Our Lady of the Lake and Mary Bird Perkins in Baton Rouge screens about 4,000 people a year for breast, skin, colorectal, prostate and oral cancers. The cancer center, a participant in the NCCCP, uses a large mobile unit to deliver free screenings to both rural and urban neighborhoods in the Baton Rouge area.

One screening took place on a Saturday in September, 2010, when customers visiting Baton Rouge’s Webb’s Barber Shop left with a new haircut and a free prostate screening. Thanks to Webb’s owner King Davis and Mary Bird Perkins Cancer Center, more than 90 men took advantage of the screening at the historic barbershop that once served the likes of B.B. King, Nat King Cole and Aretha Franklin. Webb’s hosted the screening for the third year in a row to get more African American men to take their prostate health seriously.

A barbershop may seem like an unusual place for a prostate screening unless you consider that barbershops are often the neighborhood’s place to meet, talk and get a haircut. Webb’s owner Davis says that he and his clients talk about everything in his shop, including health concerns.

“I tell everyone who comes in the shop about the importance of getting screened for prostate cancer,” said Webb. “If they are too young to get screened, I give them a flier to bring home to their father or grandfather.”

Mitchell Berger, M.D., medical director for The Cancer Program of Our Lady of the Lake and Mary Bird Perkins says a barbershop provides a more relaxed environment for conversations about prostate health that a traditional doctor’s office setting. “Barbershop screenings have been successful around the country,” said Berger. “Through our relationship with the National Cancer Institute Community Cancer Centers Program, we are focusing on getting more minority populations screened for prostate cancer, specifically African American men.”

According to the Louisiana Tumor Registry, the incidence of prostate cancer among Black men is 63 percent higher than among White men.  Early screening is the best protection against prostate cancer for all men.

Community Hospitals

The 30 NCCCP hospital locations range from Maine to Hawaii; and from South Dakota to South Carolina. Read about the NCCCP cancer centers and how they are reaching out to their communities.