Press Releases
- For Immediate Release
November 16, 2011 - AUSTIN, TX - For more information, contact
Robert Nash (512) 779-3847 - Mark Evans (979) 492-1150
Texas Cancer Conference Connects Leading-Edge Research to Everyday Screening and Prevention
Lance Armstrong among panelists connecting via Skype to statewide ‘Screening Day’ sites
As hundreds of the nation’s top cancer researchers and prevention experts converged on the Austin Convention Center this week for the Innovations in Cancer Prevention and Research Conference hosted by the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas (CPRIT), organizers literally extended the conference out well beyond the facility’s walls to touch thousands of Texans in need of support in their own personal battles with the deadly disease that claims thousands of lives every year.
Many of the topics being discussed among researchers focus on therapies and prevention strategies of the future, but CPRIT is also providing thousands of Texans with vital screening and prevention services only available today because of the legacy of research from earlier years. To underscore that critical connection between cutting-edge cancer research and how it ultimately aides in real people’s prevention and survival, seven-time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong and other cancer survivor panelists reached out live via Skype video today (Nov. 16) to health providers and their patients at two CPRIT-funded cancer screening sites in different parts of the state to discuss issues surrounding prevention and survivorship.
To date, cancer institute funding has provided preventative screenings to nearly 50,000 Texans — more than 27,000 of whom had never been screened before. It’s all part of the mission of the two-year-old state agency created by the voters of Texas to support leading cancer research and help put it into the hands of physicians and cancer patients to help reduce cancer risk and improve the quality of care.
“The institute is supporting prevention projects all across the state,” said Dr. Becky Garcia, CPRIT’s chief prevention officer. “These efforts are educating people on the steps they can take to minimize their cancer risks. They also are bringing proven cancer control interventions to the people with greatest need.”
Cancer is the leading cause of death for Texans under age 85, accounting for nearly one of every four deaths in the state. According to the Texas Cancer Registry, it also is the leading cause of death from disease among Texas children aged 1 to 14 years. In 2011, it is estimated that 107,111 Texans will be newly diagnosed with cancer and 38,586 will die of the disease.
In the two years that the institute has been awarding grants, it has provided more than $570 million in funding for 350 cancer research, prevention and commercialization projects. A portion of this funding is dedicated to projects that help reduce cancer risk through screening, education and community outreach.
In addition to the panel discussion featuring Lance Armstrong, other highlights of this week’s conference include a presentation by newly appointed M.D. Anderson Cancer Center President Dr. Ronald DePinho on early stage cancers, a session by Institute of Medicine President Harvey Fineberg on cancer prevention and a presentation on a CPRIT-funded project, the Statewide Clinical Trials Network, that will give Texas cancer patients greater access to clinical trials for potentially promising cancer drugs and treatments.
More information on the conference, as well as CPRIT’s prevention efforts, may be found at http://www.cprit.state.tx.us.
About CPRIT
Texas voters overwhelmingly approved a constitutional amendment in 2007 establishing CPRIT and authorizing the state to issue $3 billion in bonds to fund groundbreaking cancer research and prevention programs and services in Texas. CPRIT’s goal is to expedite innovation and commercialization in the area of cancer research and to enhance access to evidence-based prevention programs and services throughout the state. CPRIT accepts applications and awards grants for a wide variety of cancer-related research and for the delivery of cancer prevention programs and services by public and private entities located in Texas. More information about CPRIT is available on its website, www.cprit.state.tx.us.
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