Smokers sought for study
on vegetables and cancer
Smokers who aren't turned off by broccoli sprouts and celery are sought for a diet study Saturday to Aug. 14 at the Paradise Palms Cafe at the University of Hawaii-Manoa.
The Cancer Research Center of Hawaii and Kapiolani Clinical Research Center are conducting the research to see if broccoli sprouts and celery help fight lung cancer.
Talk focuses on
Dr. Carl-Wilhelm Vogel, Cancer Research Center of Hawaii director, will discuss cancer risks among Hawaii's different ethnic groups at a Rotary Club of Pearlridge luncheon meeting at 1 p.m. July 9 at the Pearl Country Club's Grill Room, 98-535 Kaonohi St.
cancer risks in islesVogel will describe risks of developing cancers among Hawaii's ethnic groups, how cancer rates here compare with those nationally, and discuss plans for a new Cancer Research Center site.
The cost is $13 for Rotary members and guests. To register, call Michelle Hashimoto at 741-5854 before Tuesday.
Star-Bulletin staff
About $500 worth of meals, snacks and beverages will be provided for the volunteers except for a 13-day break halfway through the project.
Kristine Cuthrell, research nutritionist and project coordinator, said 50 volunteers are needed and 21 have been accepted. They will have breakfast and lunch at the cafe, and dinner will be packed in a cooler to take home, she said.
Basically, it will be a fruit and vegetable diet with cooked broccoli sprouts and celery added, she said. Half the group will have the sprouts and half celery, and then they will be reversed, for comparison.
Shoyu or mayonnaise can be added to make the vegetables more palatable, Cuthrell said. The menu also will include cream of celery soup once a day.
She said a researcher at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center in Seattle has done some work with celery showing it might decrease activity of the P450 enzyme that activates carcinogens. But this will be a unique study looking at the effects of cigarette smoke, she said.
Volunteers won't have to quit smoking, but will be required to eat only the food provided in the study. Weekly urine and blood samples will be taken.
Participants will receive $600 for time and travel.
Volunteers must be 18 to 70 years old, smoke at least 10 cigarettes daily, be of Asian or Pacific Island ancestry, take no medication and be in good health.
For more information, call 983-6242 or 265-6704 as soon as possible, or e-mail CRC@kapiolani.org.
Cancer Research Center of Hawaii
www.crch.org
