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WEST CENTRAL ILLINOIS -- Many families in the Tri-States have seen loved ones battle cancer.

Now you will have the chance to help prevent cancer for future generations.

For some participants in Cancer Prevention Study 3 (CPS-3), the drive to help prevent cancer is a personal one.

"For me, I was looking at it as a long term thing, something that would affect my children and someday my grandchildren. I felt like giving just a little bit of my time would be well worth it if it would help cancer research," CPS-3 Participant Sharon Tweedell explained.

This is the third study of its kind. In the past these large scale studies have made drastic discoveries about cancer. Cancer Prevention Study I linked smoking to lung cancer and II linked obesity with mortality rates for cancer patients.

"This study, we really at this point don't know what we're going to find out, but it's an environment and lifestyle study, long-term, over a 30 year period where people are telling us what they're eating, where they're living, what vitamins they're taking those kinds of things. The hope is that we can find future cancer risks and find out what's causing them," Hunt said.

The actual process to become a study participant is simple. Anyone ages 30 to 65 who has never been diagnosed with cancer is eligible to participate.

The American Cancer Society is seeking 300,000 participants nationwide. With help from the local YMCA the organization is hosting several sign up dates. The first will be Saturday, November 3rd at the Western Community YMCA in Barry, Illinois from 10 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Another sign up date is Tuesday, November 6th at the Mount Sterling YMCA from 4 p.m. until 7:30 p.m. Quincy will host two dates of sign ups, Wednesday and Thursday, November 7th and 8th at the Quincy YMCA. Wednesday's session will go from 4 p.m. until 7:30 p.m. and Thursday will go from 7 a.m. until 10:30 a.m.

To get started, register online through the American Cancer Society.