Maimonides Breast Center held its annual flag-raising event Friday in honor of Breast Cancer Awareness month.

The annual event began Friday morning and is held each October in honor of breast cancer survivors and awareness about the disease.

Survivors and the doctors and nurses who treated them gathered outside the hospital to raise a flag.

Doctors stress the importance of cancer screening for women even before the age of 40.

Early detection is key and in most cases can lead to a curable success rate of 97 percent if cancer is found, doctors say.