ST. GEORGE — As it celebrates its 100th birthday, the American Cancer Society is looking to local residents to help finish the fight against cancer by reaching full enrollment in a historic research study.
Cancer Prevention Study-3 will give scientists a better understanding of cancer causes and prevention. The Society is looking for local men and women between the ages of 30 and 65 from various racial and ethnic backgrounds with no personal history of cancer to help reach full enrollment of at least 200 people in Southern Utah.
Local residents can enroll in CPS-3 online at: www.cps3utah.org
“By joining this study, people can literally help us save lives, giving future generations more time with families and friends, more memories, more celebrations, and more birthdays,” said Zach Smith, CPS-3 Community Lead.
Signing up requires a one time in-person visit to read and sign a consent form, complete a survey, have your waist measured, and give a small non-fasting blood sample like what you’d do during a routine doctor visit. Participants will also complete a more detailed survey at home and will continue to receive periodic follow-up surveys in the future that researchers will use to look for more clues to cancer’s causes.
“Many individuals diagnosed with cancer struggle to answer the question, ‘What caused my cancer?’ In many cases, we don’t know the answer,” said Alpa V. Patel, who holds a doctorate degree and is the principal investigator of CPS-3. “CPS-3 will help us better understand what factors cause cancer,” he said, “and once we know that, we can be better equipped to prevent cancer.”
CPS-3 is the latest addition to the Society’s groundbreaking cancer prevention studies, which have been instrumental in helping identify major factors that can affect cancer risk. Researchers say CPS-3 holds the best hope of identifying new and emerging cancer risks. But its success depends on members of the community becoming involved. Researchers will use data from CPS-3 to build on evidence from those earlier cancer prevention studies, which began in the 1950s and involved hundreds of thousands of volunteer participants. Smith said:
Among other findings, these cancer prevention studies have confirmed the link between cigarette smoking and lung cancer, demonstrated the link between larger waist size and increased death rates from cancer and other causes, and showed the considerable impact of air pollution on heart and lung conditions. Changes in lifestyle over the past several decades as well as a better understanding of cancer make this latest chapter in this lifesaving series of studies a critical part of continuing the progress we’re seeing against the disease.
Individuals in Southern Utah wishing to participate in the study can do so starting today, Oct. 12, or on Oct. 16 and Oct. 17, at the designated locations:
Latter Day Saints Ward Meeting House
259 North Mall Drive, St. George
Saturday, Oct. 12, 10 a.m. – 1:30 p.m.
Dixie State University
220 South 700 East, St. George
Wednesday, Oct. 16, 1–4:30 p.m.
Dixie Regional Medical Center
1380 South Medical Center Drive, St. George
Thursday, Oct. 17, 9 a.m. – 2:30 p.m.
Submitted by the American Cancer Society
Email: [email protected]
Twitter: @STGnews
