The Mississippi State Department of Health (MSDH) is urging women to get screened for breast cancer during Breast Cancer Awareness Month in October, noting the state’s high mortality rate from the disease.

Breast cancer is the second-most common cancer among U.S. women and the second-leading cause of cancer-related deaths. For non-white women, it is the leading cause of cancer death. Each year, about 400 women in Mississippi die from the disease, according to MSDH.

Despite those numbers, more than one in four Mississippi women do not receive regular screenings that can detect breast cancer early. Black women face the highest mortality risk, and women over 50, those with a family history, women who delay childbirth until after age 30, and those who are overweight are considered most at ri

See Full Page