Mammograms are offered at the M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in the Texas Medical Center. They are also offered on M.D. Anderson's self-contained 38-foot van containing a LoRad MIV mammography unit. The van travels to various workplace sites where employees and clients can jump on board the van for a mobile mammogram.

Hartford Hospital's Take the Time mammogram van travels to clinics, churches, senior centers, and other Connecticut locations where women can easily access life-saving screenings. The University Breast Health Center in Augusta, Georgia is home to a mobile mammography program that reaches underserved women unable to report for on-site visits. Lexington Medical Center in South Carolina offers mobile mammograms. Y-ME National Breast Cancer Organization affiliates offer their own traveling screening services. And a mobile mammogram service was offered on Kent State University's campus during this October's Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

Mammograms on the go are no different than mammograms at fixed locations. They are high quality, safe, confidential -- and typically speedier than the traditional screening procedure. Often, a woman knows before she departs that her image is technically accurate. She can ask questions and receive information, and she can expect a prompt call from the radiologist or her physician who will discuss results. Sometimes, mobile mammograms take as little as 20 minutes to complete.

Mammograms are recommended for women age 40 and older and for women with a personal or family history of breast cancer. As with all medical services, there are barriers -- such as awareness, cost, transportation, convenience -- that prevent access for some people. Mobile mammograms help drive away barriers. They allow more women more access to the best tool for identifying breast cancer in its earliest form.

Roll on, mammogram vans!

The Y-ME Breast Cancer Organization is based in Chicago. Their mission is to ensure, through information, empowerment and peer support, that no one faces breast cancer alone.

Y-ME does not raise money for breast cancer research. The organization is here today for those who can't wait for tomorrow's cure. The Y-ME national breast cancer hotline is the only 24/7 call center operated by trained peer counselors who are breast cancer survivors. The hotline takes more than 40,000 calls per year. Y-ME counselors do not give medical advice but give emotional support and information about breast cancer, procedures and treatment options.

The organization was founded in 1978 by the late Ann Marcou and Mimi Kaplan. They were two breast cancer survivors who sought to provide support for fellow breast cancer patients and loved ones. Nearly 30 years later, Y-ME is a premier resource for breast cancer information and services, all provided completely free of charge.

Y-ME Hotline: 1-800-221-2141 or 1-800-986-9505 (Spanish).

To find out more about Y-ME's local affiliates, support programs and services click here.