A panel of four leading experts will speak at Tulane University on the new scientific basis for cancer prevention November 11. The Tulane University Presidential Symposium on Cancer includes a free, public forum with a panel of four national experts on "Fight for Your Life: Cancer Prevention in the Real World" at 5 p.m. in the Freeman Auditorium at the Woldenberg Art Center of Newcomb College on the Tulane University campus uptown.

On the same day, the expert panel will deliver presentations on "The Prospect of Preventing Cancer: Scientific Basis and Fond Hope" for the scientific community and health care professionals from 8 a.m. to noon in the auditorium of the Tulane University School of Medicine, 1430 Tulane Ave.

Almost 200,000 of the 564,000 cancer deaths expected in 2004 could be prevented by lifestyle changes, according to the American Cancer Society.

Nutrition, physical inactivity, obesity and other lifestyle factors within our control are risk factors for cancer, says Roy Weiner, director of the Tulane Cancer Center, who is organizing the Presidential Symposium. "Some cancers are caused by infectious exposures and can be prevented through improved hygiene and common sense behavior," Weiner says. "Legions of cancer researchers are doing their part to advance cancer prevention by seeking to understand the cellular processes that initiate and promote cancer in the first place."

The symposium asks scholars to explore various aspects of cancer prevention, including nutrition, immunotherapy, hormones and chemoprevention. Panelists are:

- Ernest Terry Hawk, medical oncologist and epidemiologist in the Division of Cancer Prevention at the National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health

- Geoffrey L. Greene, professor at the Ben May Institute and the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at the University of Chicago

- W. Martin Kast, Walter A. Richter Cancer Research Chair and professor of molecular microbiology and immunology at the Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of Southern California

- Alan R. Kristal, associate head of the Cancer Prevention Program at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle

For complete information, go to the event website at: www2.tulane.edu/president_symposium.cfm or call 504.988.6592.