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Colorectal cancer
patients’ close kin
sought for study

Star-Bulletin staff

The Cancer Research Center of Hawaii is recruiting children and siblings of people diagnosed with colon and rectal (colorectal) cancer in the past five years to participate in a study.

Behavioral scientist Karen Glanz is principal investigator for the Family Cancer Education and Talk-Story Study, being conducted through 2002.

The center has a National Institutes of Health grant for the study, aimed at developing a culturally sensitive education program to help families of people who have been diagnosed with colorectal cancer.

The center hopes that cancer education materials designed for Hawaii's population will reduce colorectal cancer rates and complications.

Colorectal cancer is the second-most-common cancer killer in the nation, with about 130,000 new cases and 50,000 deaths expected this year, the center said.

Charles Schulz, creator of the Peanuts comic strip, died of the disease. Other well-known figures affected by colorectal cancer include Audrey Hepburn, Elizabeth Montgomery, Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Daryl Strawberry.

Males and females are affected equally by the disease, which is preventable in most cases, the center said.

When discovered early, five-year survival rates are at 92 percent.

In Hawaii, a recent study conducted by the cancer center's scientists showed the family history risk for colorectal cancer is nearly twice as high for Japanese (11.1 percent) as for Caucasians (6.5 percent).

Japanese men appear to have a higher chance of being diagnosed with the disease, although colorectal cancer cuts across all ethnic groups, the center said.

Family members who join the new study will be involved for a year, but will need to commit less than five hours of time during that period.

Participants will receive personalized health-education materials concerning cancer prevention.

Regular screening tests beginning at age 50 can help prevent cancer by detecting small polyps or precancerous growths for removal and early cancer for treatment, the cancer center said.

For more information, call Glanz or Kathy Suzuki, project coordinator, at 586-3076.