Cancer is the second leading cause of death in the U.S., and has substantial negative impact on human health and well-being. Yet much remains to be learned regarding the factors that influence a person’s risk of developing or dying from cancer.

Marshfield Clinic Research Institute and two other Midwestern health care systems, HealthPartners (Minneapolis) and Henry Ford Health System (Detroit), have been funded by the National Cancer Institute to plan a large national cohort study of cancer occurrence and outcomes in adults.

“We are proud to be a part of this important research that could help us find new ways to prevent cancer,” said Bob Greenlee, Ph.D., senior research scientist with the Center for Clinical Epidemiology and Population Health and primary investigator on the study for the Research Institute.

At these sites and others across the U.S., participants will be followed over a decade or more to provide new information on cancer causes, and strategies to improve survival and quality of life. The Research Institute team will develop and test study recruitment and follow up procedures during the planning phase.