Community Corner

Nationwide Cancer Study Needs Tampa Bay Participants

The study is called "CPS-3."

From officials at St. Joseph's Hospital:

St. Joseph’s Hospitals are helping the American Cancer Society find “cancer fighters” in the Tampa Bay area who want to join a historic nationwide study about how genetic, environmental and lifestyle factors may cause or prevent cancer. 

Men and women ages 30-65 who have never been diagnosed with cancer are encouraged to enroll in Cancer Prevention Study-3 (CPS-3), and can do so during a registration event hosted by St. Joseph’s Hospitals on May 2, 10 a.m. – 4 p.m. in the Medical Arts Building (located on W. Dr. Martin Luther King. Jr. Blvd. in Tampa).

Find out what's happening in Tampawith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Before enrollment begins, the American Cancer Society’s Greater Tampa office will host a kickoff event for members of the community who are interested in serving as CPS-3 Community Champions on Tuesday, March 5, at 6 p.m. at the Greater Tampa American Cancer Society Office located at 2006 W. Kennedy Boulevard.

The one-hour program will provide Community Champions with the tools they need to educate the community about CPS-3, including information about other enrollment events across Hillsborough County.

Find out what's happening in Tampawith free, real-time updates from Patch.

During the May 2 enrollment event at St. Joseph’s Hospital, research participants will complete a questionnaire and give a small blood sample, along with height, weight and blood pressure information.  Participants don’t have to know all of the answers to the questionnaire at the time of the enrollment event – there will be a timeframe for participants to go back and research health history, if needed. 

The most important things to do are explore the CPS-3 website, get answers to any questions and consider registering for the study. 

“By participating in this study you can personally contribute to the fight against cancer,” said St. Joseph’s Cancer Institute Director Brad Smith. “Just as CPS-1 and CPS-2 helped us better understand the harmful effects of smoking, CPS-3 promises to help us better understand the relationship between other factors and cancer.  We need to know what genetic, environmental and lifestyle factors can cause and or prevent cancer to help protect our children and grandchildren.”

The study will follow participants for at least 20 years.  St. Joseph’s Hospitals Cancer Institute hopes that folks in the community will honor their friends and family members who have been touched by cancer by joining in this landmark research study. 

So far, 100,000 people across the United States have enrolled in CPS-3 in the past two years, but this is the final year of enrollment and Hillsborough County has a goal of 900 participants for 2013. 

Last year, St. Joseph’s Hospitals alone enrolled 240 participants. 

For more information about the study, or to enroll, call St. Joseph’s Cancer HelpLine at (813) 870-4123 or visit www.cancer.org/cps3florida.

 


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here