Cancer study enlists largest group in Florida

TAMPA PALMS -- Last weekend's New Tampa Relay for Life enrolled 149 participants in a long-term cancer study, the highest number of any of the 11 enrollment efforts in Florida.

"We actually had to turn people away because the phlebotomists were out of kits," said Stephanie Crawley, the American Cancer Society volunteer who organized the New Tampa signups.

Participants, who gave blood samples, agreed to complete regular surveys about their health for the next 20-30 years. Researchers hope the data from some 500,000 partipants nationwide will reveal cancer connections linked to diet and lifestyle patterns.

The enrollment took place last Friday night at Freedom High School, amid the Relay for Life, one of many such fundraisers this spring for the Cancer Society.

Crawley said she originally was assigned to enlist at least 364 study subjects, based on past participation in the New Tampa relay. But fewer fundraising teams participated this year, apparently deterred by the soft economy, so the Cancer Society reduced Crawley's goal to 111.

She said the 149 people who signed up for the study included 23 who who came for that purpose, and not the Relay for Life.

"They stayed for some of the events," Crawley said.

-- Bill Coats, Times Staff Writer