Franciscan Alliance seeks volunteers for American Cancer Society study

Franciscan Alliance has intensified its war on cancer by becoming a local promotional sponsor of a national program aimed at curing the disease.

Franciscan Alliance's Northern Indiana Region has joined with the American Cancer Society's Department of Epidemiology and Surveillance Research, which is recruiting 300,000 adults nationwide, at least 400 of them locally, to volunteer for its Cancer Prevention Study-3.

"Because our current study population (of CPS-2) is aging, we must recruit a new study population for the next generation of research. This will pave the way to further advance our understanding of the lifestyle, environmental and genetic factors that cause and prevent cancer," the society says.

The first study began in 1959; the second in 1982. More than 2.5 million people have participated in the programs.
Some key findings of previous studies include:

• The effects of smoking and secondhand smoke, which led to the U.S. Surgeon General's warning labels on cigarettes, as well as numerous smoke-free legislation measures.
• The impact of obesity on the risk of cancer death.
• The link between aspirin use and lowering the risk of cancer death.
• The impact of air pollution on the heart and lungs, which led to stringent limitations on pollution proposed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
  
  

Volunteers interested in enrolling in the new study may register online at www.cancer.org/nwindianacps3, or at enrollment events scheduled:

• Oct. 14, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.:
  Merrillville Making Strides Against Breast Cancer Walk
  Hidden Lake Park
  6335 Broadway
  Merrillville
   
• Oct. 16,  4 to 8 p.m.:
  Franciscan Omni Health and Fitness - Schererville
  221 U.S. 41, Suite A
  Schererville
  
  
• Oct. 16, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.:
  Woodland Cancer Care Center
  8955 W. 400 North
  Michigan City
  
  
• Oct. 18, 8 a.m. to noon:
  Franciscan Omni Health and Fitness - Chesterton
  810 Michael Drive
  Chesterton
  
  
• Oct. 18, 8 a.m. to noon:
  Southlake YMCA
  1450 S. Court St.
  Crown Point

• Oct. 19, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.:
  Valparaiso Family YMCA
  1201 Cumberland Crossing
  Valparaiso
  
  

Volunteers must be between the ages of 30 and 65; can never have been diagnosed with cancer (not including basal or squamous cell skin cancer) and must be willing to make a long-term commitment to the study, which involves periodically completing follow-up surveys. Enrollment involves completing a lifestyle survey, signing a consent form, completing a brief written survey, providing a waist measurement and a blood sample.