VCU to host free seminar on colon cancer

By Erin Lucero
Office of Development, School of Medicine

RICHMOND, Va. – Virginia Commonwealth University’s Massey Cancer Center will present a free seminar with a focus on colon cancer from 6:30 - 8:30 p.m. on March 27 at the Jewish Community Center, 5403 Monument Ave.

The seminar will feature health-care providers as well as colon cancer survivors who will discuss early detection and diagnosis, genetic risk factors and advances in treatment, including clinical trials.

The American Cancer Society has recognized March as Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month. According to the ACS, colorectal cancer is the third most common cancer among men and women in the United States. In 2001, approximately 98,200 new cases of colon cancer will be diagnosed, and an estimated 48,100 people will die from the disease.

VCU’s Massey Cancer Center has received continuous funding from the National Cancer Institute since 1975, when it became the first center in the state to be recognized as a clinical cancer center. The Massey Cancer Center is the only center in Central Virginia to receive this designation.

The seminar is offered by VCU’s Massey Cancer Center as part of an ongoing educational series on cancer topics. The seminar is free and open to the public. For more information, call the Massey Cancer Center’s Patient Resource Libraries at (804) 828-8709.