Bernyce Edwards was not about to take her daughter's death from breast cancer lying down.
Her opportunity to make a difference — both in the fight against cancer and in her own health — came from a Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center study examining whether exercise can reduce a woman's risk of getting breast cancer.
Bernyce's daughter, Beverly, was 42 when she was diagnosed with advanced breast cancer. With her immune system weakened by chemotherapy, she died from pneumonia three months later. "While it happened quickly for us, it was a wake-up call," Bernyce said.
Bernyce was 67 in 2000 when she joined the year-long Hutchinson Center study, which required participants to work out for at least 45 minutes five days a week.
Although Bernyce could manage only 20 minutes on the treadmill at first, she eventually worked her way up to an hour. By the end of the study, she had lost nearly 13 pounds and to date has lost nearly 20 pounds.
She wasn't alone. Her fellow exercisers achieved significant reductions in weight, total body fat and, most importantly, intra-abdominal fat, which can raise insulin levels and promote the growth of cancer cells.
The study is one of many at the Hutchinson Center helping individuals like Bernyce beat their odds of developing cancer. And our research shows that exercise isn't the only way to make a difference. Thanks to our innovative studies on the impact diet, smoking and other lifestyle factors have on cancer, millions of people can lead healthier lives.
This year, cancer will strike 1.4 million people worldwide. Experts believe that nearly 70 percent of these cases may be preventable through lifestyle changes — a goal in which our Prevention Research Initiative is leading the way. We house the world's largest and most established research program dedicated to uncovering the factors that influence a person's likelihood of getting cancer, and we're using this knowledge to develop and test ways to reduce those risks and save lives.
Many of our studies take place in a unique prevention-research center where study participants work out in our state-of-the art exercise facility or test possible preventive foods in our nutritional-research kitchen. Our study participants are our research partners who contribute to lifesaving research that is improving survival and quality of life for people around the world while learning how to make healthy choices for themselves.
Fit to fight cancer
We've made major advances in understanding how exercise causes changes in the body that minimize cancer risk, such as reducing inflammation and lowering the levels of hormones that promote cancer. A world leader in the field, the Hutchinson Center has been chosen by the National Cancer Institute to coordinate a major nationwide study of the connection between obesity and cancer.
Screening saves lives
We've developed ways to monitor cancer risk and onset in patients with the precancerous condition Barrett's esophagus, which boost survival rates for esophageal cancer from 5 percent to more than 80 percent. Now, we're developing effective ways to monitor early onset of colorectal and other cancers.
Setting the facts straight on hormone-replacement therapy and supplements
The Hutchinson Center serves as the coordinating center for the Women's Health Initiative — the largest-ever study to investigate prevention strategies for cardiovascular disease, osteoporosis and cancer — which found that combination hormone-replacement therapy increases a woman's risk of breast cancer and heart disease and decreases the risk of bone fractures and colon cancer. We also play a key role in the largest-ever prostate-cancer prevention study, whose goal is to tell whether selenium and vitamin E can prevent the disease.
Diet and disease
Our studies have found that moderate consumption of red wine and a diet rich in vegetables can reduce a man's risk of prostate cancer. Our researchers have also shown that a diet high in fat and calcium may fuel prostate-cancer progression to advanced stages in those who already have the disease. We're also investigating links between dietary habits and risk of colorectal, breast and other cancers.
More reasons to quit
Our research shows that long-term heavy smoking doubles a man's risk of developing aggressive prostate cancer and can increase a woman's likelihood of developing breast cancer. We're also identifying parental behaviors — such as quitting smoking when children are young — that increase the odds that kids will give up cigarettes and drastically reduce their chances of developing lung cancer, the leading cause of cancer death among both men and women in the United States.
Private donations are essential to our continued success in lifesaving prevention research. Your support will make a difference. To learn more about the Prevention Research Initiative, visit our Web site at www.fhcrc.org/donating/support or call (206) 667-4399 or (800) 279-1618.
