On October 4-8, 2011, the American Cancer Society will be holding a mass enrollment for their Cancer Prevention Study-3 (CPS-3) at eight of Indianapolis’ largest employers and meeting areas.

The following article was penned by Shari Rudavsky for IndyStar.com:

Smoking and obesity are known cancer risks, but researchers still have much to learn about the second-most common cause of death in the United States.

For the past two years, the American Cancer Society has been enrolling people across the country in its latest research project, Cancer Prevention Study-3. In the first week of October, eight of the area’s major employers will contribute, signing up people at their work sites.

So far, about 1,200 local people have enrolled in the study, and the organization is hoping to bring in an additional 1,000 new participants during the October effort, communications manager Brandi Davis-Handy said. The national goal is to recruit 300,000 people by the end of 2013.

The work sites, which include Eli Lilly and Co., Roche Diagnostics, and area hospitals and churches, will invite the public to sign up as well.

“This is really a great opportunity for us to engage a new constituent base,” Davis-Handy said.

Indianapolis is the second city to hold a mass enrollment. Atlanta, home to the cancer society, recently held a similar enrollment.

Studies such as this play an integral role in the battle against cancer, said Linda Wilgus, executive director of Northwest Radiology Network and volunteer chair for the local project.

“Once we find why someone gets cancer, we can then figure out how to prevent it,” Wilgus said. “It’s what cancer research is all about.”

Enrollment requires participants to complete a brief questionnaire; get height, weight and waist measurements; and provide a blood sample. Over the next 20 years, participants will be asked to fill out follow-up questionnaires.

Once all 300,000 participants are enrolled — the study already is a third of the way there — Cancer Prevention Study-3 will be the largest study ever to collect blood samples from all participants, said Alpa Patel, strategic director of the study.

The blood samples will allow researchers to look at the role genetics can play in cancer. The questionnaires will provide clues to the role of lifestyle choices in cancer, Patel said. Waist measurements will help determine how bad visceral fat — the extra pounds carried around essential organs — is for a person, Patel said.

“It’s 30 to 60 minutes of your time every few years to fill out a survey,” she said, “but it can have an invaluable impact in the fight against cancer.”

Each year, about 7,500 people in Central Indiana are diagnosed with cancer, or about 20 a day, said Linda House, executive director of St. Vincent Care, one of the participating employers.

For three days during the October sign-up period, St. Vincent will allow its employees to sign up on work time and invite all hospital visitors to participate, House said. This is the first time that the hospital has taken part in such an initiative.

“This is our opportunity to invest today to change the face of cancer in the future,” said House, who already has signed up to participate.

To participate in this study you must:

• be between the ages of 30 & 65
• have no personal history of cancer (this does not include basal or squamous cell skin cancer)
• be willing to make a long-term commitment to the study