USC Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center and USC Verdugo Hills Hospital partnered with community organizations during Breast Cancer Awareness Month to encourage people of color to get a mammogram. The campaign, which includes a flyer, infographic and videos from USC Norris physicians and a patient, kicked off Oct. 1.

Featuring the tagline, “Friends tell friends to schedule a mammogram,” the campaign uses inclusive language and imagery to emphasize the importance of annual screenings for all people affected by breast cancer.

Early detection of breast cancer is critical for improving each person’s chances of survival, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). For Latinx communities, breast cancer remains the most common cancer and the leading cause of cancer death, likely because these patients tend to be diagnosed at a later stage, according to CDC data. Black communities have the lowest survival rate of breast cancer of any racial or ethnic group, likely because they have more aggressive breast cancer types that are more challenging to treat, CDC statistics show.

Mammography is the best tool available to screen for breast cancer because these screenings can detect tumors before they are large enough to be felt by a patient or doctor. The clinicians at USC Norris recommend screenings to begin annually at age 40 for people of average risk, and any time a patient finds a new lump, nipple discharge, skin changes or other changes to the breast.