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Georgetown Hospital System
P.O. Box 421718
Georgetown, SC 29442
Nonprofit Org.
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Georgetown Hospital
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Georgetown
Hospital System’s commitment
to caring for area residents affected by cancer has
elevated it to a key role in a national cancer study being
conducted by the American Cancer Society (ACS).
ACS selected GHS to be a recruiting site for its third
national longitudinal study on cancer, expected to get
under way in 2013.
The selection marks the first time that GHS has
participated in this study and reflects the cancer program’s
commitment to caring for people affected by cancer, says
Debra Magnanelli, RN, OCN, MSN, director of GHS
Cancer Services.
“We work closely with the American Cancer Society,
and although we are a somewhat small community cancer
program, we set numbers for the state of South Carolina,”
Magnanelli says. “The number of patients assisted through
our resource center in the Francis B. Ford Cancer Center in
Georgetown was the highest in the state.”
The study, called Cancer Prevention Study-3, requires
GHS designated as recruiting
site for national cancer study
Cancer by
the numbers
According to the American Cancer
Society, in 2012:
●
About 1,638,910 new cancer
cases are expected. This estimate
does not include carcinoma in situ
(noninvasive cancer) of any site
except urinary bladder and does
not include basal and squamous
cell skin cancers, which are not
required to be reported to cancer
registries.
●
In 2012, about 577,190 Americans
are expected to die of cancer—more
than 1,500 people a day.
●
Cancer is the second most common
cause of death in the United States,
accounting for nearly 1 of every 4
deaths. Its death rate is exceeded
only by heart disease.
●
In the GHS tri-county service area,
the leading cancer diagnoses, in
order, are: breast, prostate, lung,
gastrointestinal and cervical.
participants to make a 20-year commitment that involves
completing surveys at home every few years.
“The goal is to diagnose cancer early and save lives,”
Magnanelli says. “Essentially, the study will examine the
cultural, environmental and lifestyle factors that cause or
prevent cancer.”
Magnanelli said the ACS study will involve only 300,000
participants nationwide, in contrast with the two previous
ACS studies, each of which followed more than a million
people in the 1950s and the 1980s.
While preventive measures and earlier diagnosis have
led to improved rates of survivorship, there is still much to
be done, Magnanelli says. “One would be hard-pressed to
find someone whose life has not been touched in some way
by cancer. Through research, we are improving outcomes,
and studies such as this one can provide valuable
information that may change public health policies. The
first study led to the U.S. surgeon general’s warnings on
cigarette packages.”