Report Back From the American Association of Cancer Research
102nd Annual Meeting, Scientist/Survivor Program, April 2011
During this past April, I had the privilege to attend the AACR 102nd Annual Meeting as part of Scientist/Survivor Program representing SHARE. This is the first time for an ovarian cancer survivor; in past years, breast cancer survivors attended for SHARE. It was an exhilarating experience for me, hearing leaders in the research field speak, meeting cancer advocates from around the USA and other countries, and being in small groups with faculty mentors.
One of the sessions that we heard which impressed me a great deal was delivered by Elizabeth Blackburn, Ph.D., Nobel Prize Winner in Medicine. Dr. Blackburn discovered the existence of telomeres at the cap end of chromosomes. This is important because the length of your telomeres can predict your health outcome. She pointed out that the longer your telomeres, the healthier your life. Major common diseases, including cancer, are linked to telomeres.
Dr. Blackburn's research has shown, among many other findings, that chronic life stress over years lowers the length of telomeres found in white blood cells, and that having longer telomeres, which decreases risk of disease, is correlated with increased education, exercise, and stress reduction. While telomere analysis is mostly in the experimental stage, in the not so distant future, individuals will be able to have their telomeres analyzed to see their own health status. This information will promote more efforts towards preventing cancer and other diseases.
Another session that was of interest to me was by the founder of the Army of Women, Susan Love, M.D. The Army of Women recruits women with breast cancer for research projects. It has been especially helpful to small projects when not enough women are available locally, or large projects that need significant numbers of participants. The program primarily works over the Internet with about 352,000 women available to call upon. The researchers who presented came from Washington University in St. Louis, New York University, MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, and Indiana University. You can find out about enrolling in the Army of Women by going to www.armyofwomen.org.
Next year I hope another SHARE representative can attend the Scientist/Survivor program at the AACR 103rd Annual Meeting, and can receive this substantial learning experience. Applications are due at the beginning of December 2011. You can go to www.AACR.org for more information, and feel free to contact me at debbiep@nyct.net.
Posted July 13, 2011.
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