Health
OP-ED: Cancer as a College Issue: How Young Adults Are Waging the War
Source: American Cancer Society
Nov 10, 2005, 12:30

Oh, the excitement of college traditions. For me, one of the best of these happens at my alma mater, University of Notre Dame, where I am provost. At every Notre Dame basketball game, a throng of more than 3,000 frenzied students takes over an entire section of Joyce Center stadium. They call themselves the Leprechaun Legion, and you can't miss them.

I love taking in that sight, and not just out of alumni pride. It stirs my heart knowing that while they wear their school spirit on their sleeve, these Fighting Irish are also fighting for a lifesaving cause. These student fans donate sales proceeds from every Leprechaun Legion shirt to the Coaches vs. Cancer(R) program, contributing to the more than $22 million the initiative has raised for the American Cancer Society nationwide. I believe college faculty and staff should do all we can to build on this growing ground swell of student support in the fight against cancer.

In the cancer world, we are at a turning point of massive potential. Scientific projections give us every reason to believe that the falling rates of cancer incidence and death will continue to drop if we act on what we have learned about cancer to date. The people who will take that turn are the young adults preparing to enter fields such as medicine, science, law, education and business, and to become the next generation of community leaders, volunteers and parents.

Though cancer might seem an unlikely health concern for young people - cancer affects most people after middle age - no one of any age can escape being touched by the disease in some way.

I talk to students every year who have suffered the loss of a parent or grandparent to the disease. And with survival rates of childhood cancers now higher than 70 percent, there are more than 10,000 cancer survivors enrolled at colleges around the country.

The widespread effects of this disease explain, in part, the motivation behind groups such as the 25 college students who made the 4,000-mile bicycle trek from Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore to the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco this summer. Originally founded to memorialize a student's father, the Hopkins 4K for Cancer has become a fundraising and educational phenomenon.

The Hopkins 4K riders' mission reflects their energy and ambition: "We will educate ourselves on the issue of cancer and remember those who have been affected by the disease. We will draw on our idealism and help spread awareness about cancer across the country."

With that kind of spirit, events like these hold great promise for developing a base of committed, educated fighters in the war on cancer. Already the American Cancer Society counts young adults as its fastest growing volunteer segment. In fact, money raised by young volunteers doubled in 2004. I think the time is right to capitalize on that support and help our nation's youth reach one another with important health messages.

Consider the fact that nearly two-thirds of cancers are caused by preventable lifestyle factors. When leaving their homes and entering college, many young people get their first taste of freedom. They can eat what they want, behave how they want, smoke if they want. They have the newfound power, without parental restrictions, to take their behavior in any direction. Habits formed in college and earlier often stick for a lifetime. There is not a more critical time to start thinking about unhealthy behaviors than before they become ingrained habits.

We know, for example, that cancers caused by cigarette smoking could be prevented completely. In 2005, more than 175,000 cancer deaths are expected to be caused by tobacco use.

Yet approximately 30 percent of college students are current tobacco users.

We know that regular screening tests can result in the prevention or early detection of many cancers, such as cervical, colon, breast, prostate and skin cancers. Routine health checkups beginning at an early age are important to monitoring medical histories and administering necessary tests as adults age.

Yet nearly 27 percent of Americans between the ages of 18 and 24 report not having a usual place to go for medical care.

In addition, about one-third of all cancer deaths this year could have been prevented with different nutrition and physical activity habits and a healthier weight. And many of the more than a million skin cancers expected to be diagnosed in 2005 could have been prevented by limiting sun exposure.

There is great room for improvement in America's health habits, and college students are at just the age to make it happen. That's why I urge colleges and universities across the country to educate their students about cancer and enlist their help in fighting it.

It need not be as ambitious as a cross-country bike ride. The American Cancer Society has several programs ready to be adapted to the unique spirit of each college community. For example, the American Cancer Society's Colleges Against Cancer(SM) program and Relay For Life(R) events offer fun, easy and rewarding ways to make a big difference and honor those touched by cancer in your community. To find programs like these near your school, or to learn how to start one of your own, call 1-800-ACS-2345.

I truly believe we will see a day when cancer no longer causes suffering and death. I also believe it will require the awareness and active participation of our nation's college-age adults - starting now - to bring that day closer. What young people have to offer in terms of energy, talent and commitment add up to the potential to save millions of lives.

I've got my shirt and I'm fired up. Somebody pass the face paint.

Thomas G. Burish, PhD, is the Provost of the University of Notre Dame and the Chairman of the American Cancer Society's National Board of Directors.