News Release

June 30, 2005

Contact: Maureen McGuire, 860-679-4523
e-mail: mmcguire@nso.uchc.edu

Golf Tournament Will Support Unique Colon Cancer Research at UConn Health Center

Farmington, Conn. – The 28th annual Cancer Research Golf Tournament will support innovative colon cancer research at the University of Connecticut Health Center. The tournament will be held on Monday, August 1, at the Golf Club of Avon. The rain date is August 29.

This year’s tournament is once again being organized by a dedicated and hard-working team of volunteers, led by Chairman Mark Yellin of Farmington.

Money raised will help Health Center researchers upgrade existing equipment used to study microscopic, molecular characteristics of precancerous colon tissue.

“Central to our understanding of how colon cancer develops is our ability to look at the earliest, molecular changes within colon tissue,” explained Daniel Rosenberg, Ph.D., co-director of the Health Center’s Colon Cancer Prevention Program.

“Money generously raised by this year’s Cancer Research Golf Tournament will help us purchase the most advanced system available, a new laser capture micro-dissection (LCM) instrument, to analyze genetic material within colon tissue samples,” he added. The goal of this year’s golf tournament is to cover the complete cost of the LCM instrument, which is about $150,000.

Through the years, the Cancer Research Golf Tournament has funded a variety of cancer research initiatives at the Health Center and has raised more than $750,000. These donations have bolstered research into new cancer vaccine treatments, helped to establish a tumor bank, and helped to purchase state-of-the-art equipment to detect a variety of cancers in their earliest forms.

This year, the Health Center’s Colon Cancer Prevention Program is poised to enter a new phase. In the fall, the program will offer individuals and families personalized colon cancer prevention strategies, screening tests, such as colonoscopy, and opportunities to participate in clinical trials looking at new approaches to cancer prevention.

“Colon cancer is the third most common cancer among women and men in the U.S. However, we know that by removing precancerous growths called polyps, we can actually prevent colon cancer,” said Carolyn D. Runowicz, director of the Carole and Ray Neag Comprehensive Cancer Center and president-elect of the American Cancer Society.

“Our research poses many exciting new possibilities about detecting precancerous cells long before polyps even form, and better yet, preventing colon cancer from ever presenting,” she added. “We are very grateful to the Cancer Research Golf Tournament for their continued support.”

For more information about the tournament or to make a donation to cancer research, call 860-679-4673, or see the brochure (872K PDF).

For more information about the Neag Comprehensive Cancer Center visit http://cancer.uchc.edu/. 

The University of Connecticut Health Center includes the schools of medicine and dental medicine, John Dempsey Hospital, the UConn Medical Group and University Dentists. Founded in 1961, the Health Center pursues a mission of providing outstanding health care education in an environment of exemplary patient care, research and public service. To learn more about the UConn Health Center, visit our website at www.uchc.edu.

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