43
Cancer study planned
The study’s goal is to better understand the genetic, environmental and lifestyle factors that cause or prevent cancer.
BOARDMAN — People ages 30 to 65 who have never been diagnosed with cancer, other than basal or squamous cell skin cancer, are being sought to enroll at the American Cancer Society’s Boardman Relay for Life on Friday in a nationwide 20-year cancer-prevention study.
The Boardman relay is from 6 p.m. Friday to 6 p.m. Saturday at the Boardman Center Middle School football stadium, 7410 Market St. Enrollment in Cancer Prevention Study-3 (CPS-3) is only from 7 to 11 p.m. Friday.
The goal of CPS-3 is to better understand the genetic, environmental and lifestyle factors that cause or prevent cancer, said Annette Camacci, local chairwoman of the enrollment effort.
The Boardman Relay for Life is one of three 2008 relays in Ohio that will enroll people for the study. The others are West Jefferson and Bowling Green, said Camacci, a three-year breast cancer survivor.
Camacci, as a member of the Youngstown Junior League, had been involved with the league’s annual Pink Ribbon Tea for cancer survivors for many years, including several times as chairwoman, when she was diagnosed in February 2005. Even though she has a history of breast cancer on both her mother’s and father’s sides of the family, she said she did not see it coming for herself.
Camacci, 51, lives in Poland with her husband, Dave, and daughter, Lauren, a sophomore at the College of Wooster. Camacci is a 1974 graduate of Chaney High School and an administrative assistant in the health insurance division of First Place Insurance in Boardman.
“I encourage everyone who has never been diagnosed with cancer and who is between the ages of 30 and 65 to join this study. We need people from all walks of life,” Camacci said.
Recruitment is not only for those who live in Boardman, but from all area communities. Also, it is not necessary to participate in the relay to enroll in the study, she said.
It will take about 30 minutes to enroll at a tent set up for that specific purpose. Those who participate will be asked to complete a short survey, sign a consent form, and provide a waist measurement and a small blood sample taken by certified phlebotomists. The cancer society has given the Boardman relay an enrollment goal of 300, she said. The national enrollment goal is 500,000.
Over the next 20 years, participants will receive annual newsletters about the study and every couple of years they will be sent surveys to be completed and sent back. The information gathered is confidential, Camacci said.
“It’s that simple,” she said. “Wouldn’t it be remarkable if the information gathered from this study helped to better understand the factors that cause cancer.
“I encourage everyone who is qualified to get involved. If supplying information about what we eat, drink, do and don’t do can provide researchers with a new link to, or away from cancer, they will be helping make history. Participation in the study may help eliminate cancer as a major health problem for this and future generations,” she said.
Since the 1950s, the American Cancer Society has conducted various cancer-prevention studies. Some of the key first findings from those studies include: the link between cigarette smoking and lung cancer; the impact of obesity on the risk of dying from cancer; and the link between aspirin use and lower risk of colon cancer.
For more information about CPS-3, call toll-free (888) 604-5888 or visit www.cancer.org/cps3.
alcorn@vindy.com