> SOUTHERN INDIANA — More than 650 residents in the Louisville and Southern Indiana areas have signed up for an opportunity to participate in an upcoming historic study that has the potential to change the face of cancer for future generations, but the American Cancer Society is pushing for more.

And now, one week away from the event, others are urged to sign up today to take part in the  so that cancer’s greatest mysteries can be unlocked.

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) in Louisville and Southern Indiana. The goal is to help researchers better understand the lifestyle, environmental and genetic factors that cause or prevent cancer. The opportunity for local residents to enroll in CPS-3 is being made possible in partnership with the American Cancer Society, Baptist Health Louisville (formerly Baptist Hospital East), Floyd Memorial Hospital and the YMCA of Southern Indiana — Clark County Branch. Participants can schedule an appointment by visiting cps3kyin.org or calling 1-888-604-5888.

Also, enrollment will take place at various locations in Louisville and Southern Indiana next week. In Southern Indiana, they are: Floyd Memorial Hospital, 1850 State St., New Albany, 3 to 7 p.m. Tuesday, March 19, and 7 to 10:30 a.m. Wednesday, March 20; and YMCA of Southern Indiana — Clark County Branch, 4812 Hamburg Pike, Jeffersonville, 4:30 to 7 p.m. Tuesday, March 19, and 7 to 10:30 a.m. Wednesday, March 20.

At the enrollment appointments, individuals will be asked to read and sign an informed consent form; complete a comprehensive survey packet that asks for information on lifestyle, behavioral, and other factors related to your health; have his/her waist circumference measured; and give a small blood sample, according to a cancer society release. Upon completion of this process, the society will send periodic follow-up surveys to update information and annual newsletters with study updates and results. The enrollment process takes approximately an hour to complete. Periodic follow-up surveys of various lengths are expected to be sent every few years to individuals.  

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 on-going. 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. Visit cps3kyin.org for more information.