WHAT: “Cancer, Let’s Prevent It” is the theme of this year’s “Stay Healthier Longer” conference at the Laredo Regional Campus of The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio. Demonstrations on healthy cooking, exercise, gardening, dental hygiene and environmental health issues will be held from 8 a.m. to 10 a.m.
At 10:30 a.m. will be a presentation by Ian M. Thompson Jr., M.D., a world authority on prostate cancer and director of the Cancer Therapy & Research Center, part of the UT Health Science Center San Antonio.
WHO: Dr. Thompson’s clinical and research expertise is in the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of urologic cancers, including tumors of the kidney, bladder, prostate, testis and male genitalia. He sees patients at the CTRC, one of only four National Cancer Institute-designated cancer centers in Texas.
WHEN: 8 a.m.-noon on Saturday, April 25. Best time for interviews is 10-10:30 a.m.
WHERE: The event will take place at the Laredo Regional Campus of the UT Health Science Center San Antonio, 1937 E. Bustamante St., Laredo.
WHY: People who live in the 38 counties of South Texas are more likely to have cervical, liver, stomach and gallbladder cancer, and childhood and adolescent leukemia, than residents of other parts of Texas or the U.S. as a whole. 1&2
Although Hispanics are the fastest-growing demographic group in the U.S., participation of Hispanics in cancer clinical trials nationally is only 3.9 percent. This lower participation rate limits the opportunity for researchers to learn how Hispanics can benefit from the newest prevention and treatment strategies being evaluated in clinical trials. However, through a concerted effort at the CTRC, nearly half of the participants in a wide range of cancer clinical trials are Hispanic. 3
NOTES: Dr. Thompson has conducted numerous national clinical trials including the largest prostate cancer prevention trial4 ever conducted. Nearly 19,000 men participated in the National Cancer Institute-funded study. The results showed that men who received the drug finasteride had a 30 percent lower risk of getting prostate cancer than participants who didn’t receive the medication.
Dr. Thompson also designed a prostate cancer risk calculator, an online tool that helps a man assess his individual risk of getting prostate cancer and aids in his decision about treatment. Dr. Thompson has published more than 500 scientific papers. He serves as chair of the NCI’s Early Detection Research Network and president of the American Board of Urology.
Media Contact: Rosanne Fohn, 210-567-3026 | Onsite contact: Lourdes Castaneda, 956-324-7753
The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, one of the country’s leading health sciences universities, ranks in the top 13 percent of academic institutions receiving National Institutes of Health (NIH) funding. The university’s schools of medicine, nursing, dentistry, health professions and graduate biomedical sciences have produced more than 29,000 graduates. The $787.7 million operating budget supports eight campuses in San Antonio, Laredo, Harlingen and Edinburg. For more information on the many ways “We make lives better®,” visit www.uthscsa.edu.
Sources of information:
1 “South Texas Health Status Review: 2013,” a publication of the Institute for Health Promotion Research, part of the School of Medicine at the UT Health Science Center.
2 “Incidence of Hepatocellular Carcinoma in Texas Latinos, 1995-2010: An Update,” Scientific journal PLOS ONE.
3 “Hispanic Accrual on Randomized Cancer Clinical Trials: A Call to Arms,” Journal of Clinical Oncology.