This grant will support the efforts of a team of outstanding cancer researchers who have developed a highly integrated and interactive research proposal with a strong likelihood of success, explained David S. Alberts, M.D ., principal investigator for this research grant and director of the center s Cancer Prevention and Control Program. In addition to University of Arizona reseachers, the team includes scientists and physicians from the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey in Newark, the University of Colorado in Denver, the State University of New York in Buffalo, the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, and the University of Arkansas in Little Rock. Together they will focus on three research projects and will complete two large cancer control studies involving 2,800 participants. We know that colon cancer is preventable if we can remove colon polyps before they develop into cancer, or better yet, if we can prevent them from occurring in the first place, Dr. Alberts says. Through this research we hope to develop easier, less expensive and less invasive strategies to reduce both the recurrence of polyps and the overall colorectal cancer risk.
Colorectal cancer is the third leading cause of cancer death in the U.S. in both men and women.