RICHMOND, VIRGINIA – OCTOBER 9, 2012 – Residents across Fredericksburg and Richmond, Va. have an unprecedented opportunity to participate in a historic study that has the potential to change the face of cancer for future generations. Men and women between the ages of 30 and 65 who have never been diagnosed with cancer are needed to participate in the American Cancer Society’s Cancer Prevention Study-3 (CPS-3). Interested residents are asked to register for the study this month so the Society can prepare for the actual enrollment sites in November.
Fredericksburg area residents are asked to register online at cps3fredericksburg.org by October 22nd for CPS-3 study enrollments at the following locations/dates:
HCA Spotsylvania Regional Medical Center
Classrooms A & B, 4600 Spotsylvania Pkwy., Fredericksburg, VA
Wednesday, November 7, 2012 from 3 pm – 6:30 pm
Mary Washington Healthcare at Stafford Hospital
Conference Rooms 5 & 6, 101 Hospital Center Blvd., Stafford, VA
Friday, November 9, 2012 from 9 am – 12:30 pm
Mary Washington Healthcare, Mary Washington Hospital
Carl D. Silver Health Bldg., Fick Conference Center, 2nd Floor, 1301 Sam Perry Blvd., Fredericksburg, VA
Thursday, November 8, 2012 from 5 pm – 8:30 pm
Saturday, November 10, 2012 from 9 am – 12:30 pm
In Richmond, local residents are asked to register online at cps3richmond.org by October 29th for CPS-3 study enrollments at the following locations/dates:
Bon Secours St. Francis Medical Center
Assisi Room, 13710 St. Francis Blvd., Midlothian, VA
Tuesday, November 13, 2012 from 10 am – 1:30 pm
HCA Henrico Doctors’ Hospital
Forest Conference Room, 1602 Skipwith Rd., Richmond, VA
Tuesday, November 13, 2012 from 3 pm – 6:30 pm
HCA CJW
Stalker Auditorium, 1401 Johnston Willis Dr., Richmond, VA
Wednesday, November 14, 2012 from 1 pm – 4:30 pm
Bon Secours Richmond Community Hospital
Conference Room A, 1500 N. 28th St., Richmond, VA
Wednesday, November 14, 2012 from 2:30 pm – 6 pm
SunTrust Center
Piedmont Room, 4th Floor, 919 E. Main St., Richmond, VA
Thursday, November 15, 2012 from 10 am – 1:30 pm
Bon Secours Memorial Regional Medical Center
Community Education Room, 8260 Atlee Rd., Mechanicsville, VA
Thursday, November 15, 2012 from 2 pm – 5:30 pm
SunTrust Operations Center
NS&T Room, 1st Floor, 7818 Parham Rd., Richmond, VA
Friday November 16, 2012 from 8 am – 11:30 am
Bon Secours St. Mary’s Hospital
Room 163, 5801 Bremo Rd., Richmond, VA
Friday, November 16, 2012 from 10 am – 1:30 pm
American Cancer Society
Horseley Room, 4240 Park Place Ct., Glen Allen, VA
Saturday, November 17, 2012 from 9 am – 12:30 pm
Registration ahead of time for the CPS-3 enrollment sites is critical to ensuring a sufficient number of trained phlebotomists and materials are available at each location. The American Cancer Society is expecting approximately 400 Fredericksburg residents to enroll in the study and about 800 Richmond area residents to enroll in CPS-3. The study will enroll a diverse population of up to half a million people across the United States and Puerto Rico.
CPS-3 will help researchers better understand the lifestyle, environmental, and genetic factors that cause or prevent cancer. To enroll in the study, individuals will go to a local enrollment location and will be asked to read and sign an informed consent form; complete a brief survey, have their waist circumference measured; and give a small blood sample. The in-person enrollment process takes approximately 20 – 30 minutes to complete. At home, individuals will complete a comprehensive survey packet that asks for information on lifestyle, behavioral, and other factors related to their health. Upon completion of this process, the Society will continue to send periodic follow-up surveys to update participant information and annual newsletters with study updates and results. The initial and follow-up surveys completed at home will take an hour or less of time to complete and are expected to be sent every few years.
“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, Ph.D., principal investigator of CPS-3. “CPS-3 will help us better understand what factors cause cancer, and once we know that, we can be better equipped to prevent cancer.”
Dr. Patel added, “Our previous cancer prevention studies have been instrumental in helping us identify some of the major factors that can affect cancer risk. CPS-3 holds the best hope of identifying new and emerging cancer risks, and we can only do this if members of the community are willing to become involved.”
Researchers will use the data from CPS-3 to build on evidence from a series of American Cancer Society studies that began in the 1950s that collectively have involved millions of volunteer participants. The Hammond-Horn Study and previous Cancer Prevention Studies (CPS-I, and CPS-II) have played a major role in understanding cancer prevention and risk, and have contributed significantly to the scientific basis and development of public health guidelines and recommendations. Those studies 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. The current study, CPS-II, began in 1982 and is still ongoing. But changes in lifestyle and in the understanding of cancer in the more than two decades since its launch make it important to begin a new study.
The voluntary, long-term commitment by participants is what will produce benefits for decades to come.
“Taking an hour or so every few years to fill out a survey – and potentially save someone from being diagnosed with cancer in the future – is a commitment that thousands of volunteer participants have already made. We’re looking for more like-minded individuals in the Roanoke community to join this effort that we know will save lives and improve the outlook for future generations,” said Dr. Patel.
For more information on enrolling in CPS-3, contact Robert Noriega at 804-527-3772 or robert.noriega@cancer.org. For more information about CPS-3, visit www.cancer.org/cps3.
About the American Cancer Society
The American Cancer Society combines an unyielding passion with nearly a century of experience to save lives and end suffering from cancer. As a global grassroots force of more than three million volunteers, we fight for every birthday threatened by every cancer in every community. We save lives by helping people stay well by preventing cancer or detecting it early; helping people get well by being there for them during and after a cancer diagnosis; by finding cures through investment in groundbreaking discovery; and by fighting back by rallying lawmakers to pass laws to defeat cancer and by rallying communities worldwide to join the fight. As the nation’s largest non-governmental investor in cancer research, contributing more than $3.5 billion, we turn what we know about cancer into what we do. As a result, more than 11 million people in America who have had cancer and countless more who have avoided it will be celebrating birthdays this year. To learn more about us or to get help, call us any time, day or night, at 1-800-227-2345 or visit cancer.org. For cancer news in your community, visit sacancernews.org.
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