Today, outside Philadelphia City Hall, race organizers announced Philadelphia will be taking part in a Cancer Prevention Study.known as C-P-S-3.
Anyone doing the run, watching the race, or coming to the race expo is invited to join the nationwide study.
It will help researchers understand the genetic, environmental, and lifestyle factors behind cancer.
And it could unlock some very important clues.
Dr. Carmen Guerra, of the American Cancer Society, says "We now know that smoking is a risk factor for lung cancer. We know that obesity is a risk factor for multiple cancers. But we only know that because of CPS1, and CPS2. This study will uncover more risk factors, because we know there are more."
The goal is to recruit 13-hundred volunteers here.
Philadelphia is the first city to tie recruiting into a major public event, like the race.
Volunteers should be between 30 and 65 years old, and you must never have had cancer
They will be asked to make an appointment to give a small sample of blood, and have their waist measured.
They will also fill out an online survey now, and then again every few years for 10 to 20 years.
You can sign up in person at the race or the expo, or you can do it online.
For more information, go to www.cancer.org/cps3, or call the American Cancer Society toll-free at 1-888-604-5888.
