Blanchard Valley Hospital, Findlay, has partnered with the American Cancer Society to offer area residents an opportunity to change the face of cancer for future generations by participating in the American Cancer Society's Cancer Prevention Study-3 (CPS-3). CPS-3 will help researchers better understand the lifestyle, environmental, and genetic factors that cause or prevent cancer.

Men and women between the ages of 30 and 65 who have never been diagnosed with cancer are needed to participate. Participation includes signing up online for an enrollment day appointment, taking part in the enrollment process and completing periodic follow up surveys at home for the next 20 to 30 years.

Enrollment days will be held Thursday, Aug. 2, from 2 to 7:30 p.m. and Friday, Aug. 3, from 7 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. in the conference rooms in the Donnell Pavilion at Blanchard Valley Hospital. The in-person enrollment process takes approximately 20 to 30 minutes to complete and includes reading and signing an informed consent form; completing a brief survey, having waist circumference measured; and giving a small blood sample.

To sign up for an enrollment day appointment to begin participation in the study, visit www.FindlayCPS3.org or call 1.888.604.5888.

About CPS-3
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 ongoing. 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.

CPS-3 will enroll a diverse population of up to half a million people across the United States and Puerto Rico.