Arlington Mayor Robert Cluck, M.D., and Erma Johnson Hadley, chancellor of Tarrant County College, will give their reasons for supporting Cancer Prevention Study-3 at Tarrant County's open enrollment kick-off set for 10:30 a.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 2 at Tarrant County College's Trinity River Campus, 300 Trinity Campus Circle.

Residents of Tarrant County will have an unprecedented opportunity to participate in a historic study with the potential to change the face of cancer for future generations. 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). CPS-3 will enroll a diverse population of 300,000 people across the United States and Puerto Rico.

Appointments for the Tarrant County enrollments may be made online now. Also lending their support for these enrollments at the Oct. 2 event will be Edna Munoz-Oden, an R.N. with Moncrief Cancer Institute, and Taylor Helland, a 17-year-old senior at Arlington's Martin High School who was diagnosed with colon cancer at the age of 14.

Times, dates and locations for the Tarrant County College open enrollments are:

• 11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Oct. 29, Southeast Campus
• 11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Oct. 30, Northwest Campus
• 11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Oct. 31, Northeast Campus
• 11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Nov. 5, South Campus
• 11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Nov. 7, Trinity River Campus

The opportunity for local residents to enroll in CPS-3 is being made possible in partnership with Tarrant County College. CPS-3 will help researchers better understand the lifestyle, environmental, and genetic factors that cause or prevent cancer.

To enroll in the study, 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; take a waist circumference; and give a small blood sample. Upon completion of this process, the Society will send periodic follow-up surveys to update your information and annual newsletters with study updates and results. The in-person enrollment process takes less than an hour to complete. Periodic follow-up surveys of various lengths are expected to be sent every few years to participants.

"Many individuals diagnosed with cancer struggle to answer the question, 'What caused my cancer?' In many cases, we don't know the answer," said Alpa V. Patel, Ph.D., principal investigator of CPS-3. "CPS-3 will help us better understand what factors cause cancer, and once we know that, we can be better equipped to prevent cancer. Our previous cancer prevention studies have been instrumental in helping us identify some of the major factors that can affect cancer risk."

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. Previous Cancer Prevention Studies (CPS-I, and CPS-II) 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.

The voluntary, long-term commitment by participants is what will produce benefits for decades to come. "Taking an hour or so every few years to fill out a survey - and potentially save someone from being diagnosed with cancer in the future - is a commitment that thousands of volunteer participants have already made," Dr. Patel said.

For more information or to learn how to become involved with CPS-3, visit cancer.org/cps3, email cps3@cancer org, or call toll-free 1-888-604-5888.