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Healthy in 2025: Fred Hutch experts in nutrition, exercise and cancer prevention

SEATTLE — Jan. 9, 2025 — The new year is a perfect time to make healthy goals, especially with Cancer Prevention Month around the corner in February. From exercise and nutrition to annual screenings, there’s many things you can do to lower your risk.

Below are Fred Hutch researchers, nutritionists, exercise specialists and clinicians who can share cancer prevention tips and ways to improve your overall health.

Trending

In the age of social media, trending topics arise quickly. Fred Hutch has researchers and clinicians who can provide expertise on several trending topics.

Highlights from 2024

The new weight-loss drugs and cancer:
With obesity being a driving factor in at least 13 types of cancers, new weight-loss drugs are being evaluated as a means of cancer prevention. While research has not yet determined a clear link, experts including epidemiologist Anne McTiernan, MD, PhD, and gastroenterologist Rachel Issaka, MD, MAS, detail the existing science around using these drugs for prevention and during and after cancer treatment.

When to do what to reduce your risk of cancer:
Experts take a decade-by-decade look at the basics of when to start screenings and other preventive actions to promote long-term health.

Now’s the time to discuss family health history:
Genetic counselor Kari Thorsen, MS, CGC, answers commonly asked questions about genetic counselors and the process of genetic testing.

BRCA1/2: Why men should be screened for the “breast cancer gene”:
A review article in JAMA Oncology led by Heather Cheng, MD, PhD, looks at evidence that men can carry mutations in the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes that increase their risk of several cancers.

Here comes the sun! What’s your skin strategy?:
Dermatologist Song Park, MD, and epidemiologist Margaret M. Madeleine, MPH, PhD, answer questions and provide insight about all things skin cancer including risk factors, melanomas, sun protection and updates on the latest research.

Nutrition
Fred Hutch nutrition experts can discuss the significance of maintaining a wholesome diet as a proactive measure against cancer, offering valuable insights for overall public health and preventive strategies.

  • Marian Neuhouser, PhD, RD, leads Fred Hutch's Cancer Prevention Program where her research focuses on the role of nutrition and obesity in the prevention and survivorship of breast and prostate cancers.
    • Areas of Expertise: Nutrition, Obesity, Breast Cancer, Prostate Cancer
  • Johanna Lampe, PhD, RD, is an experimental nutritionist studying how nutrition affects cancer risk as well as the relationship between diet and the microbiome.
    • Areas of Expertise: Nutrition, Microbiome
  • Kerry McMillen, MS, RD, CSO, FAND, leads Fred Hutch's Medical Nutrition Therapy services, where she works with patients to support healthy diet during cancer treatment.
    • Areas of Expertise: Nutrition, Microbiome
  • Holly Harris, MPH, ScD, studies the impact of lifestyle, nutrition and genetic factors on women's health. She also looks at the connection between hormonal diseases and ovarian and breast cancer.
    • Areas of Expertise: Women’s Health, Ovarian Cancer, Breast Cancer, Endometriosis, Screening, Nutrition
  • Garnet Anderson, PhD, leads the Women's Health Initiative and Fred Hutch’s Public Health Sciences Division. She has conducted numerous large-scale and multi-year public health studies related to women's health, from ovarian cancer screening to menopause. related to women's health, from ovarian cancer screening to menopause.
    • Areas of Expertise: Women's Health, Screening, Ovarian Cancer, Supplements, Menopause

Exercise
Researchers and clinicians agree that physical activity is the best way to improve your health any time of year. Fred Hutch experts are studying how exactly exercise prevents cancer, while clinicians are helping patients use exercise for both long- and short-term health.

  • Hanna Hunter, MD, leads Fred Hutch's Cancer Rehabilitation program, where she focuses on helping patients use physical activity before, during and after cancer treatment. Hunter teaches patients how exercise doesn't have to be at the gym but can take place in their everyday life.
    • Areas of Expertise: Exercise, Physical Therapy
  • Matthew Van Doren leads Fred Hutch's Exercise Research Center. His background as an exercise physiologist helps him support researchers who are looking to study the impact of exercise, as well as support participants in learning the ins and outs of the gym.
    • Area of Expertise: Exercise
  • Anne McTiernan, MD, PhD, studies ways to prevent new or recurrent cancer through exercise and the effect of supplements on disease prevention. She's served on the Physical Activity Guidelines and Advisory Committee of the U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services, which recommends the amount and type of physical activity Americans need to reduce the risk of cancer and other diseases.
    • Areas of Expertise: Exercise, Supplements, Alcohol

Early Detection
Catching cancer early gives patients the best chance at successful treatment and life beyond cancer. Fred Hutch researchers and clinicians are finding ways to make early detection better, from making screening more accessible and widespread to identifying genetic markers associated with different types of cancer.  

  • Vida Henderson, PhD, PharmD, focuses on cancer prevention and early detection in underserved populations and communities disproportionately affected by certain cancers. One of her current studies is aimed at increasing genetic counseling and screening among African American women with a hereditary risk for breast cancer.
    • Areas of Expertise: Screening, Health Equity, Breast Cancer
  • Matthew Triplette. MD, MPH, leads the Lung Cancer Early Detection and Prevention Clinic where he studies how to increase lung cancer screening to save lives.
    • Areas of Expertise: Lung Cancer, Screening
  • Ruth Etzioni, PhD, is an expert in cancer screening, particularly in prostate and breast cancer. She evaluates diagnostic tests, looking at the impacts of screening on incidence and mortality rates of these cancers, as well as the costs and benefits of preventive screening.
    • Areas of Expertise: Screening, Prostate Cancer, Breast Cancer
  • Rachel Issaka, MD, MAS, focuses her research on decreasing the mortality associated with colorectal cancer by identifying, measuring and improving approaches to increasing access to screening.
    • Areas of Expertise: Colorectal Cancer, Screening
  • Burcu Darst, PhD, identifies and analyzes genetic risk factors for prostate cancer in her research. She focuses on differences in risk factors among populations and better predicting who might be at increased risk of prostate cancer.
    • Areas of Expertise: Genetic Risk, Prostate Cancer
  • Ulrike Peters, PhD, MPH, focuses on the genetic epidemiology of colorectal cancer as well as the impact of race and ethnicity on underlying genetic risk factors. As the leader of GECCO, the world's largest molecular and genetic consortium for colorectal cancer, she's working to identify new genetic risk factors.
    • Areas of Expertise: Genetic Risk, Colorectal Cancer, Screening

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Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center unites individualized care and advanced research to provide the latest cancer treatment options while accelerating discoveries that prevent, treat and cure cancer and infectious diseases worldwide.

Based in Seattle, Fred Hutch is an independent, nonprofit organization and the only National Cancer Institute-designated cancer center in Washington. We have earned a global reputation for our track record of discoveries in cancer, infectious disease and basic research, including important advances in bone marrow transplantation, immunotherapy, HIV/AIDS prevention and COVID-19 vaccines. Fred Hutch operates eight clinical care sites that provide medical oncology, infusion, radiation, proton therapy and related services. Fred Hutch also serves as UW Medicine’s cancer program.

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