GREENUP, Ky. — Kentucky First Lady Jane Beshear was joined by Greenup County, Ky., officials and University of Kentucky representatives to announce the expansion of an ovarian cancer screening program that will provide free services to women in northeastern Kentucky Appalachian counties.

The UK Markey Cancer Center Ovarian Cancer Screening Project will establish a satellite facility for the program at the Greenup County Health Department.

“Most women do not experience ovarian cancer symptoms until the disease’s late stages, making screenings a valuable tool in detecting the illness,” Beshear said. “The expansion of this free program in Appalachia eliminates barriers such as cost and travel to provide easily accessible screening opportunities for women in the region. Early detection is the key to battling this life-threatening disease, and I want to thank everyone involved in bringing this program to northeast Kentucky.”

The UK Markey Cancer Center Ovarian Screening Project currently provides women age 50 or older, or women over the age of 25 who have a family history of ovarian cancer, the opportunity to receive free screenings in Lexington. The satellite facility will provide the same screening opportunities to women in and around northeast Kentucky.

A $200,000 Appalachian Regional Commission grant will be combined with $66,600 from the Greenup County Health Department and $45,000 from UK to create the satellite program. Funding will go toward purchasing required equipment and furnishings, as well as provide program operations for up to 3 years. UK will train local ultrasound technicians to facilitate the scans and the UK Markey Cancer Center will read the scans and deliver patient reports.

“UK’s Ovarian Cancer Screening Program has been extremely successful at detecting ovarian cancer in its earliest, most treatable stages for thousands of Kentucky women,” said Dr. Michael Karpf, executive vice president for health affairs at the University of Kentucky. “This funding will help UK further its goal of providing medical care to all Kentuckians.”

Rep. Tanya Pullin, of South Shore, Ky,. said she has been working on this project for Greenup County for over a year and she is grateful to Gov. and Mrs. Beshear, the Appalachian Regional Commission, UK’s Dr. Karpf and Dr. van Nagell for their support.

“Ovarian cancer is called the silent killer because many women who have it don’t show symptoms until the disease reaches a very dangerous stage,” said Sherri Smith, grant liaison for the Greenup County Health Department. “Offering free screenings in our area will allow more women to be diagnosed early, which is a key to treating and curing this deadly disease.”

For more information on the Ovarian Cancer Screening Project, call 859-323-4687, or toll-free at 800-766-8279; or visit http://ovarianscreening.info.

RYAN SCOTT OTTNEY can be reached at 740-353-3101, ext. 235, or rottney@heartlandpublications.com.