LAS VEGAS -- Valley women who do not have medical insurance can still get mammograms for free, thanks to Clark County Commissioner Lawrence Weekly.

Weekly is sponsoring free mammograms for uninsured women 40 to 64 8 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Tuesday and Wednesday. The tests will be held at the Dr. William U. Pearson Community Center.

Staff from the Nevada Cancer Institute will conduct the testing.

"Early detection is the key to winning the battle against cancer, and that why it is so important for women to have access to these screenings," Weekly said.

In Nevada, breast cancer is the most common form of cancer in women. An estimated 1,270 new cases of breast cancer will be diagnosed this year, health officials said, and about 340 of those women diagnosed with the disease will die.

Early detection is the best means of preventing death from the disease, health officials said. Mammograms can detect approximately 85 percent of breast cancers and can detect the cancer an average of one to three years before a woman can feel the lump, they added.

According to the American Cancer Society, Nevada has one of the lowest mammography screening rates nationally.

To schedule an appointment, call 866-721-4673.