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In This Issue

Men: Get Smart, Get Fit, Get Checked  

Did you know there are early detection strategies to help find colon, lung, prostate and skin cancers while they are the most treatable? These four cancers are the leading cancers in men in the United States. In 2010, an estimated 86,220 men will die from lung cancer; 32,050 men will die from prostate cancer; 26,580 men will die from colon cancer; and 7,910 men will die from skin cancer, primarily melanoma, the most fatal form, according to the American Cancer Society (the figure for skin cancer does not include basal or squamous types). But there are steps men can take to help reduce their risk.

June was Men’s Cancer Prevention Awareness Month and the Prevent Cancer Foundation wants to encourage men to take ownership of their health and get regular screenings for cancer.

“It’s the manly thing to do,” says Richard Wender, MD, professor and chair of Family Medicine at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital in Philadelphia and member of the Foundation’s Medical Advisory Board.  Dr. Wender suggests that in addition to getting screened, making a few small changes in your lifestyle such as eliminating all tobacco use, incorporating exercise and making healthier eating choices, are key to cancer risk reduction.

He also recommends that men can improve their chances of living a long and healthy life by getting:

• A primary health care provider
• At least one check-up by age 40
• A check-up every three years from age 40 to 50
• An annual check-up after age 50
• Screened for colon cancer by age 50 (earlier if you have elevated risk factors)

Dr. Wender adds that getting a colonoscopy every 10 years or a stool-blood test every year are also easy things for men to do to stay healthy. “Delight and surprise the women in your life,” says Dr. Wender. “Call your primary care provider today and let them know you want to be screened for cancer.” 

Learn more about the eight preventable cancers.

 

Get Moving: Step Away From Cancer

Many experts say that at least half of all new cancer cases could have been prevented or detected earlier. To encourage the public to take steps to prevent cancer by living a healthy, active lifestyle, the Foundation is holding its second annual Prevent Cancer Foundation 5K on September 25, 2010 in West Potomac Park in Washington, D.C.

You can take steps toward a healthier lifestyle by training for the Prevent Cancer Foundation 5K.

Register here to participate in the run/walk.

Don’t want to run or walk alone? Form a team! You and a group of friends, family or business colleagues can train, prepare healthy meals and support each other as you step away from cancer. You can also run or walk the race in honor of or in memory of a loved one to inspire you to get in shape and raise much needed funds for cancer prevention and early detection research, outreach and programs.

As you prepare to step away from cancer, take a moment to read these exercise and nutrition tips. Sharon Stocker at Runner’s World shares these key stretches for runners, while Alisa Bauman at Runner’s World compiled nutritional information for runners.  

Please consider participating in our Prevent Cancer Foundation 5K in September. Want some additional advice and motivation to start training for the race? Read the lastest post from the Foundation’s Jan Mahrer as she blogs about her personal 5K challenge.

Cancer Research - Good for our Health, Good for our Economy 

Thanks to decades of cancer research and prevention efforts led by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the total number of cancer deaths in the United States declined again last year. 

This decrease can be partly attributed to the country’s commitment to funding research which leads to the discovery of new measures for prevention and early detection as well as treatments and cures for cancer.

With help from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, NIH funding supports more than 325,000 scientists and research personnel at more than 3,000 institutions across the country and has created or saved approximately 50,000 jobs in a variety of research fields.

Because of the importance of this type of research, the Prevent Cancer Foundation, along with our partners in the cancer community, are asking for 35 billion dollars for the NIH in order to sustain funding levels from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

Cancer costs the nation more than $228 billion a year. Stable, sustained investment in research will identify ways to better prevent, detect, and treat cancer before it takes its toll on our families and our economy.

You can help. 

Visit our Advocacy Action Center to urge your Senator to sign the letter from Senator Robert Casey (Penn.) asking for sustained levels of funding research.

In the News 

Large Study Finds No Cell Phone Mast Link to Cancer Reuters

Coffee May Cut Risk For Some Cancers  CNN.com

Lung Cancer Research Concludes That Early Diagnosis is Key to Improving Survival Science Daily

 

 

Foundation News

Meeting a Need in North Carolina 

 In North Carolina, the death rate from prostate cancer for African American men is almost three times higher than that of their white counterparts, according to the American Cancer Society’s South Atlantic Cancer Facts & Figures for 2009.

The Prevent Cancer Foundation is proud to support the Action and Intervention for Men (A.I.M.) Project to alert men at increased risk of prostate cancer that this disease can be detected early and treated successfully. The A.I.M. Project increases prostate health education and awareness among African American men in Halifax, Northampton, Warren, Edgecombe and Vance counties in North Carolina.  Halifax and Northampton counties have the highest rates of prostate cancer mortality in the state.

“Prior to the existence of the A.I.M. Project, there were very few resources focusing on preventing mortality from prostate cancer in these counties,” says Patricia Peele, Rural Health Group (RHG) health educator and project director in North Carolina. The Prevent Cancer Foundation was the vehicle that helped RHG meet that specific need.

Education and community outreach are key components of the Prevent Cancer Foundation’s mission. The Foundation funds community grants to support local cancer awareness, education and screening programs across the country for all populations, especially underserved communities. In 2008, RHG was among four organizations that received a two-year grant to implement cancer prevention programs at the local level.

Through this grant supporting RHG and its A.I.M. Project, the Prevent Cancer Foundation has provided for training materials, teaching aids, educational materials, prostate models and educational activities, such as the Barber's Lunch & Learn. RHG offers Barber's Lunch & Learn training sessions where health advisors educate barbers on how to discuss prostate cancer risks with their clients. These advisors also provide the barbers with free caps and water bottles, along with informational materials, to give to clients.

“The A.I.M. Project,” comments Peele, “has given people in the community access to information through outreach programs for men that can help calm their fears about prostate cancer.”

Learn more about the Rural Health Group and about the accomplishments of the Foundation’s other community grant recipients.

Researcher Highlight 
In the Gut: Cancer-Fighting Bacteria are Key

Broccoli and other cruciferous vegetables are often touted as cancer-fighters, but it is the bacteria in our intestines that convert the key phytochemical found in these foods into powerful anti-cancer compounds. These vegetables are abundant sources of glucosinolates (GS), molecules with known anti-cancer properties. However, bacteria in the gastrointestinal tract must first convert these GS molecules into isothiocyanates (ITC), the active forms that can prevent tumor formation and inhibit tumor development.

Studies show not all tracts are created equal. “Our research has shown that individuals vary enormously in their capacity to convert GS to ITC,” says Dr. Jed Fahey, nutritional biochemist at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. 

Dr. Fahey is exploring the relationship between this conversion process and the type of bacteria present in the gastrointestinal tract. “We have hypothesized that the efficiency of conversion may control cancer susceptibility,” notes Dr. Fahey. “And that this conversion may be controlled by manipulating the relative abundance of certain bacteria in the intestinal tract.”

Funding from the Prevent Cancer Foundation and other sources has allowed Dr. Fahey and his colleagues to study the conversion of GS to ITC in three distinct populations: hospitalized healthy volunteers in Baltimore, free living volunteers in Baltimore, and farmers from a section of rural China. These studies have provided insight and understanding of the conversion process that creates ITC and they have allowed Dr. Fahey to create personal profiles of people with “fast” and “slow” conversion rates. These profiles raise the question of whether conversion of GS to ITC is correlated with cancer incidence.  Dr. Fahey’s team hopes that this research will one day help doctors predict and perhaps deliberately change the composition of bacteria in patients’ guts in order to reduce their risk of cancer.

Learn more about the life-saving research made possible by Prevent Cancer Foundation's research grants. 

CDC Funds Bring Foundation's Super Colon to California 

At this year’s Asian Heritage Street Celebration in downtown San Francisco, visitors were invited to take a stroll through the Prevent Cancer Foundation Super Colon^TM: an inflatable pink tunnel lined with larger-than-life replicas of healthy tissue, abnormal growths and protruding polyps. But few visitors knew that this educational exhibit was a part of a bigger plan to reduce colon cancer rates in California.

The California Colon Cancer Control Program (CCCCP), funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), is working to increase California’s colon cancer screening rate to 80 percent by 2014. Across the country, 21 other states and four tribal or urban Indian health organizations have CDC funding to accomplish similar goals.

CCCCP targets people aged 50 and older to encourage them to get screened, especially people who belong to groups which have lower rates of screening.  For example, Latinos who live in places where screening facilities are scarce are less likely to get screened.  And Vietnamese Americans have lower rates of colorectal cancer screening than other Asians or non-Hispanic whites. Communities with fewer screening resources often have less information about why it is important to get screened and where to get screened. CCCCP actively encourages those with health insurance to get screened through their health care providers and identifies resources for those who are uninsured or under-insured.

The Asian Heritage Street Celebration was a great opportunity to reach the diverse array of Asian Americans in the Bay Area, so the CCCCP decided to bring the eye-catching exhibit to San Francisco. As Ellen Lee, Health Education Consultant for CCCCP put it,  the exhibit’s playful appeal  “can be a great way to get the whole family involved.” The message is simple: colon cancer is preventable, treatable and beatable!

Learn more about the Prevent Cancer Super Colon^TM. 

Featured Nutrient: Vitamin E
Getting Vitamin E out of the Medicine Cabinet and Onto the Table

Caught in a quandary over what to do about recent news on vitamin E? Consumers who have taken hefty doses for years are now rethinking their approach to the potent antioxidant. While research from the past decade claimed that vitamin E may prevent a litany of chronic diseases, other researchers argue that no strong evidence exists to support the claim; a new review of 19 studies contends that taking 400 international units (IU) or more of the vitamin per day might increase the risk of mortality. What’s a conscientious consumer to do? For now, say many health professionals, stick to the natural delivery system of vitamin E: food.

What it does
Scientists have not yet elucidated all of vitamin E’s roles, but they hypothesize that it has a role in immune function, DNA repair, the formation of red blood cells and vitamin K absorption. They have confirmed that vitamin E acts as an antioxidant, particularly in protecting cell membranes from damage.

The debate lies in whether supplements can prevent future illness, and many observational studies have linked vitamin E to a reduced risk of heart ailments, cataracts and Alzheimer’s disease, as well as an improvement in immune function. Laboratory studies have also discovered that the vitamin can kill certain cancer cells.

But many scientists point to the fact that large-scale, randomized clinical trials—the gold standard of science—have yet to observe these benefits. Claus Schneider, a biochemist at Vanderbilt University, points out that aside from possible dangers, synthetic vitamin E supplements do not provide the same mix of alpha, beta, delta and gamma compounds found in natural foods (however, alpha tocopherol is the most biologically active form).

How much you need
The recommended daily allowance for men and women is 23 IU, or 15 milligrams, and because many E-rich foods come from nuts and oils, some low-fat diets may be inadequate in vitamin E. Because most foods have small amounts of vitamin E it’s virtually impossible to get too much vitamin E through food, and some people may find it difficult to achieve the recommended dietary allowance through diet alone. As insurance, you may want to take a multivitamin that provides 100 percent of the vitamin E requirement, but use caution with high-dose supplementation; the upper tolerable limit for the vitamin is set at 1000 milligrams of alpha tocopherol.

Food Sources of Vitamin E:

• 1 Tbsp. wheat germ oil = 20 mg
• 1⁄4 cup sunflower seeds = 12 mg
• 1 cup cooked spinach = 7 mg
• 1 ounce almonds (23 nuts) = 7 mg
• 1 Tbsp. safflower oil = 5 mg
• 1 ounce hazelnuts (21 nuts) = 4 mg

Banana-Berry Smoothie
This bright and easy breakfast packs two servings of fruit plus soy protein and fiber.

 

 

 

Makes 3 servings, 1 cup each
ACTIVE TIME: 5 minutes
TOTAL TIME: 5 minutes
EASE OF PREPARATION: Easy

1 1/4 cups orange juice
1 ripe medium banana, peeled and sliced
1 cup frozen blueberries, blackberries or raspberries
1/2 cup silken tofu
2 ice cubes, crushed (see Tip)
1 tablespoon sugar (optional)

Combine orange juice, banana, berries, tofu and crushed ice in a blender; cover and blend until smooth and frothy. Sweeten with sugar, if desired. Serve immediately.

NUTRITION INFORMATION: Per serving: 135 calories; 2 g fat (0 g sat, 0 g mono); 0 mg cholesterol; 27 g carbohydrate; 4 g protein; 3 g fiber; 19 mg sodium; 376 mg potassium. Nutrition bonus: Vitamin C (93% daily value). 2 Carbohydrate Servings. Exchanges: 1 1/2 fruit, 1/2 lean meat

TIP: An easy way to crush ice is to place cubes in a heavy-duty plastic bag and break them with a rolling pin.

Upcoming Events

The Prevent Cancer Super Colon™
The Prevent Cancer Super Colon^TM is coming to a community near you! Check our site for 2010 tour stops.

Prevent Cancer Foundation 5K™
September 25, 2010
Register for the second annual Prevent Cancer Foundation 5K™  run/walk in Washington, D.C. 

 

Retraction: Spring/Summer 2010 Print Cancer PreventionWorks Newsletter 

The article “Cancer Prevention Hits the Heartland” in the Summer 2010 Cancer Prevention Works newsletter incorrectly listed digital rectal exam (DRE) as a screening tool for colorectal cancer. DRE is a screening tool for prostate cancer; it is not recommended as a screening tool for colorectal cancer. To read more about screening recommendations for prostate cancer and colorectal cancer, visit the Prevent Cancer Foundation's Web site.