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Utahns can enroll this week in a study the American Cancer Society hopes will lead eventually to the end of the deadly disease.

Called Cancer Prevention Study III, it aims to enroll at least 300,000 people nationally, and 2,500 in Utah.

Enrollment opened Tuesday in Utah and runs through Saturday at various locations, including hospitals and the LDS Conference Center in downtown Salt Lake City. For all locations, go to cps3gw.wordpress.com/utah.

To enroll, click on one of the sites to set up an appointment. Participants must be between ages 30 and 65 and can't have had cancer, except for basal or squamous cell skin cancer.

The enrollment process could take up to an hour. Participants will be asked to complete surveys, provide a blood sample — to measure hormones, nutrients, vitamins, chemicals, metals and genetic factors — and a waist circumference measurement. That's because waist size is related to conditions such as diabetes and insulin resistance, which are related to the development of cancer, according to the study site.

During the next two to three decades, more surveys will explore environmental and lifestyle factors linked to health. While the study is being run by the American Cancer Society, it is being reviewed by Emory University.

The society's cancer-prevention studies started in the 1950s and have shown links between cigarette smoking and lung cancer, the impact of obesity on increasing cancer risk and air pollution on health, according to the study website.

Over time, the new study will compare participants who developed cancer to those who didn't. Enrollees may be asked to share their medical records. They will also be asked for their Social Security numbers, so the study can link participants with cancer registries and death certificates.

To maintain confidentiality, blood samples and questionnaires will be kept separately from personal identifiers. Enrollees will not be given results of tests that may be done on their blood because they aren't intended to be diagnostic tests. —

Cancer Prevention Study III

In Utah, enrollment is Nov. 13-17.

Participation sites are at various locations, including hospitals and the LDS Conference Center. For all locations, go to http://cps3gw.wordpress.com/utah/

To enroll, click on one of the sites to set up an appointment.