Free Prostate Screening

As part of National Prostate Cancer Awareness month, Roper St. Francis Healthcare is offering free screenings Thursday afternoon at four locations.

Men who get screened will be able to enter for a round on Charleston's top golf spots: The Ocean Course at Kiawah Island. Four winners will participate at the Third Annual Burger Prostate Challenge Golf Tournament next month.

"The screenings, the golf tournament … it's all about getting men to get their heads out of the sand traps and get screened for prostate cancer," said Ken Burger, a prostate cancer survivor and former Post and Courier columnist.

One in six men will be diagnosed with cancer of the prostate during their lifetime, according to the National Cancer Institute. 

The free screenings will be held from 5-7 p.m. Thursday. Men must register in advance by calling 843-402-2273. The screening will be held at:

• Roper Hospital, 316 Calhoun Street
• Roper Hospital Berkeley, 730 Stoney Landing Road
• Roper St. Francis Cancer Center - Bon Secours St. Francis, 2095 Henry Tecklenburg Drive
• Roper St. Francis Mount Pleasant Hospital, 3500 Highway 17 North

The free screenings are available to African American and Hispanic men 35 and older and all men 40 or older. The men can't be under the current care of a urologist, have a history of prostate cancer, or have had a prostate screening in the past year.