U.S. cancer group launches mass cancer study
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The American Cancer Society said it was looking for half a million volunteers willing to let researchers watch them for the next 20 years to see if they get cancer.
The aim is to match similar big studies in Europe and Asia that are looking on a large scale for the environmental and lifestyle factors that cause cancer, the second-leading cause of death in the United States after heart disease.
"This type of study involves hundreds of thousands of people, with diverse backgrounds, followed for many years, with collection of biological specimens and assessments of dietary, lifestyle and environmental exposures," Eugenia Calle, managing director of analytic epidemiology at the American Cancer Society, said in a statement.
"It also requires active follow-up to discover if and when study participants develop cancer."
The group will recruit men and women between the ages of 30 and 65 who have never been diagnosed with cancer. They will give blood to be tested and answer questionnaires at various times over the next 20 years.
Similar big studies have confirmed the link between cigarette smoking and lung cancer, shown that obesity increases the risk of several cancers, and linked aspirin use to a lower death rate from colon cancer.
They have also found evidence that defied conventional wisdom, such as the Women's Health Initiative study that found hormone replacement therapy actually raises the risk of breast cancer, stroke and heart attack.
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What breastcancer.org says about this article…
U.S. cancer group launches mass cancer study
Many of the Research News stories at breastcancer.org look at health, lifestyle, and environmental factors that make breast cancer risk go up or down. These studies provide information on how to keep your risk as low as it can be. One of the best ways to study environmental factors is to collect personal and health histories from lots of people over a long period of time. Researchers then look for differences in environmental factors between people who are diagnosed with cancer and people who aren't. This is what the American Cancer Society (ACS) wants to do.
The ACS wants about a half million people, 30 to 65 years old who haven't been diagnosed with cancer, to enroll in the study. Researchers will collect information on their health, diet, exercise, and lifestyles over the next 20 years. Researchers want to find out if any of those factors are associated with the development of cancer in people who are diagnosed with cancer during the study.
The study will follow people for 20 years; this is a HUGE commitment for the participants. But the people who do volunteer should know that they may be helping scientists develop a much better understanding of factors associated with cancer. A similar study started in 1948, the Framingham Heart Study, helped doctors greatly increase their knowledge of the causes of heart disease. The Framingham Study also helped doctors create ways to lower the risk of heart attacks and strokes.
To learn more about this study, visit the ACS site information page.