DECATUR – Free prostate cancer screenings will be held from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Friday, Sept. 24, in Suite 200 of SIU Urology, 302 W. Hay St.

Registration is not required at the annual screening event, which is sponsored by the DMH Cancer Care Institute. Masks will be required, and social distancing observed.

Prostate cancer is the most common non-skin cancer in the United States. One in eight men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer in their lifetimes, according to the Prostate Cancer Foundation.

“Screening can help us detect prostate cancer in its early stages, when we have more treatment options and the likelihood of a successful treatment is high,” Dr. Robert Blackwell, a urologist with SIU Medicine, said. “Early detection is important because prostate cancer often has no symptoms until it’s well advanced.”

The screenings are recommended for men 50 years old and older who have no history of prostate cancer and are not under the routine care of a urologist; men older than 40 if they have a family history of a father, brother or son diagnosed with cancer; and African American men over 40, who have twice the risk of dying from prostate cancer than men of any other race.

September is Prostate Cancer Awareness Month. For more information, call 217-876-4749.