Cancer Study In 19th Ward Needs Participants

CHICAGO — The University of Chicago is bringing its cancer and chronic disease study to Beverly, Mount Greenwood and Morgan Park and seeks neighborhood residents to help them identify possible neighborhood-specific causes. The effort in the 19th Ward will be part of the university's ChicagO Multiethnic Prevention And Surveillance Study (COMPASS), which since 2013 has been conducted in various neighborhoods to pinpoint any possible causes of cancer.

"There's no reason why we can't have thousands of residents signup and be a part of this," said 19th Ward Ald. Matt O'Shea, one of four elected officials to lead a meeting urging participation in the study Monday night at Morgan Park Academy.

Dr. Brisa Aschebrook-Kilfoy, research associate professor at University of Chicago, led a presentation about the COMPASS study and what will be expected of participants before a crowd of a few dozen. She said the study has a goal to eventually include 100,000 people in Chicago, and that 5,300 have been recruited so far. All in other neighborhoods, however.

The university already has a team of ambassadors on the ground in the Beverly area, with the goal to have tests begin as early as late March. Ambassadors will return to the neighborhood on a weekly basis until participation runs low.

Participants will need to be interviewed about their lifestyle, environmental exposure and medical history as well as provide blood and urine samples. Home visits will be made in which air quality monitors will be placed and retrieved after adequate samples have been taken.

A $75 incentive — $25 for each of three phases of the participation process — will be given to those who participate. And there's no limit in number of participants, although all must be at least 35 years old and willing to provide their social security number. To participate, email 19thwardcancerstudy@gmail.com.

"As many people as we can find to participate, we will provide the funding," Aschebrook-Kilfoy said.

Air quality monitors may also be placed in several public areas of the neighborhood during the duration of the study.

The idea is to help determine some reason for the number of cancer cases in the neighborhood in recent years.

"Over the last several years people in our community have talked openly about all the forms of cancer and the terrible tragedies we've seen here in Beverly, Morgan Park and Mount Greenwood," O'Shea said. "It seems to many of us that there are higher rates of cancer here than other communities... particularly pediatric cancer."

Illinois 18th District State Senator Bill Cunningham shared the results of an Illinois Department of Public Health survey that included data from 2005 to 2014 in which the 4-zip code area in and around the neighborhood (including Oak Lawn and Evergreen Park). It showed that there was not an elevated rate of pediatric cancer here, but there were higher rates of breast, lung and prostate cancer.

But the common belief among many here are that pediatric cancer cases have sharply increased since 2014. This study will help researchers understand the causes of cancer in Chicago and give them the ability to compare the risks in the 19th Ward to other parts of the city.

"We all know someone who has been touched by cancer in this community," Cunningham said. "This is a public health problem, and we are never going to solve it without the help of the public."

Photo by Tim Moran / Patch