Personalizing a Cancer Prevention Plan
SAN ANTONIO (February 9, 2011) – Probably half of all cancers are preventable, said Ian M. Thompson, Jr., M.D., director of the Cancer Therapy & Research Center at the UT Health Science Center, and tomorrow he’ll discuss how in a free public lecture.
While some risks are well-known, some people can embrace cancer prevention in every way possible — avoiding all fatty and fried foods, never smoking or drinking or going out into the sun — and still get cancer.
However, rather than going to extremes, Dr. Thompson said, there is a practical approach to cancer prevention, and that is risk assessment. In that way, he said, cancer is not so different from other unplanned, undesirable events.
“I don’t know a single person who says, ‘My plan for managing a future motor vehicle accident is to increase my health insurance,’” Dr. Thompson said. “Most people simply put on a seat belt.”
“Every single person should have a plan for assessing their risk of cancer,” he said.
WHAT: Personalizing a cancer prevention plan
WHEN: Thursday, February 10, from 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.
WHERE: CTRC, 7979 Wurzbach, in the Mabee conference room on the fourth floor of the Grossman Building. Refreshments will be provided. To make reservations and for more information, call 450-1152.
This is the third in a series of free monthly public lectures on cancer sponsored by the CTRC. In March, Andrew Brenner, M.D. Ph.D., will talk about brain tumors and some of their associated myths, including cell phone use, as well as promising new treatments being developed.
The Cancer Therapy & Research Center (CTRC) at The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio is one of the elite academic cancer centers in the country to be named a National Cancer Institute (NCI) Designated Cancer Center, and is one of only four in Texas. A leader in developing new drugs to treat cancer, the CTRC Institute for Drug Development (IDD) conducts one of the largest oncology Phase I clinical drug programs in the world, and participates in development of cancer drugs approved by the U.S. Food & Drug Administration. For more information, visit www.ctrc.net.