Why Is The Cancer Prevention Study-3 (CPS-3) Important?

CPS-3 Overview

CPS-3 is a large, geographically and racially/ethnically diverse US cohort with participants from all 50 states, DC, and Puerto Rico, and is proudly built on the American Cancer Society’s foundation of strong nationwide community and volunteer support.

CPS-3 Is A Prospective Cohort Study

• In a prospective cohort, the same group of participants are followed for many years.
• Over time, information is collected from participants to see how changes in lifestyle, behaviors and health, as well as in the environment, affect the risk of developing cancer, other diseases, or dying.
• For participants who develop cancer, information is available both before and after their diagnosis.

CPS-3 Features

A Rich Biospecimen Repository

• Blood samples from 99% of the 300,000 participants
• Tumor tissue samples from breast, ovarian, prostate, colorectal, and blood cancers
• Expanding to include urine and stool samples

Uses Modern Technologies

• A secure web-based participant portal
• Novel data collection techniques (like activity trackers)
• Multi-omic analyses of blood samples (genomic, metabolomic, etc.)

CPS-3 Research Objectives

Cancer Prevention

CPS-3 data allows ACS researchers to identify lifestyle, environmental, behavioral, and genetic differences between people who get cancer and people who do not get cancer.

Cancer Survivorship

CPS-3 data will be used to identify ways to improve quantity and quality of life for the growing number of cancer survivors.

Emerging Areas of Concern

CPS-3 will allow researchers to identify differences in cancer risk and survival based on financial well-being, geography, health insurance status, and race/ethnicity.

Distributing surveys every 3 years allows CPS-3 researchers to gain insight about how the effect of current trend – like e-cigarettes, the COVID-19 pandemic, and inequitable access to healthcare – may be affecting cancer risk, prevention, and survival.