Posted Mar 24, 2011
Janet Duprey and her daughter, Michelle Timmons, share that special bond between mother and daughter that connects them in so many ways.
Their relationship has formed a new bond recently that may someday benefit not only their loved ones, but all of humankind.
Duprey, a New York state senator from Peru, signed up for a long-term cancer-prevention study during the 2009 annual Relay for Life fundraiser at the Clinton County Fairgrounds.
Timmons will be joining her mother’s efforts this year when she, too, volunteers for the Cancer Prevention Study-3 at an upcoming enrollment session at CVPH Medical Center in Plattsburgh.
“There is not a person around who hasn’t been affected by cancer,” said Timmons, 36. “It’s very exciting to think that I’m part of something that may lead to a breakthrough in cancer research.”
Help for future
The American Cancer Society first began community-focused cancer studies in the 1950s. Information gleaned from that initial study identified the correlation between smoking, second-hand smoke and lung cancer, which ultimately led to the warning labels that are now printed on every package of cigarettes sold.
“Now, of course, we clearly know about the dangers of smoking, but back then (prior to the initial study), they didn’t know that,” said Joan Sterling, community executive for the American Cancer Society of Clinton and Essex counties. “What I’m excited about is what we are going to be a part of in the next 20 years.”
The study utilizes information collected from a cross section of society. Participants must be willing to make a long-term commitment to the study, which involves completing periodic follow-up surveys over the next two to three decades.
Participants must be between 30 and 65 year old and must have never been diagnosed with cancer other than basal or squamous cell skin cancer.
“I feel incredibly fortunate,” said Duprey, who was 63 when she volunteered to participate. “I have my health and am able to help others. Part of my motivation was Michelle and my three granddaughters, but it is also a way for me to give back to the community.”
Duprey has past experience with this kind of health-care survey. As a child in the 1950s, she was part of the Dr. Jonas Salk polio-vaccine testing that would eventually lead to the eradication of the disease in the United States.
“I remember lining up in school for the shots,” she recalled. “No one knew who was getting the real vaccines and who was getting the fake ones.
“I see this (current survey) in much the same way. We are providing information that may some day eliminate some of the issues we face today in our fight against cancer.”
“We all want to be able to prevent cancer some day,” Timmons added. “They may find the key component from what somebody mentioned in filling out this survey.”
Upcoming enrollment
During the Relay of Life registration in 2009, more than 250 people signed up to participate. The response was so positive, that officials had to turn away 40 people when they ran out of registration packets.
Applicants for the upcoming registration will have two days to enroll and can also begin the enrollment process online.
“The American Cancer Society is looking for between 300,000 and 500,000 people in the U.S.,” Sterling said. “If you look on a map (highlighting participating regions), you will see a little red dot representing what we’re doing here, that we’re making a difference.”
Applicants who do the pre-enrollment process online will need about 20 minutes to complete the application during the upcoming enrollment periods. Those doing the entire process on site will need between 45 and 60 minutes.
Applicants will be required to give a small blood sample, which will be drawn by a trained and certified phlebotomist.
Email Jeff Meyers at: jmeyers@pressrepublican.com
To see more of The Press-Republican or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.pressrepublican.com/.
Copyright © 2011, The Press-Republican, Plattsburgh, N.Y.