For\u00a0patients\u00a0diagnosed with cancer, continuing to smoke during treatment\u00a0may\u00a0shorten survival.\u00a0Persistent smoking\u00a0can\u00a0increase treatment toxicity, reduce\u00a0the\u00a0effectiveness\u00a0of cancer therapy, and raise the risk of disease recurrence and second primary cancers. Yet despite longstanding clinical\u00a0practice\u00a0guidelines recommending tobacco treatment as part of cancer care, most\u00a0cancer\u00a0patients are only briefly\u00a0advised to quit\u00a0(“you need to quit”) and are rarely provided with any cessation\u00a0assistance.\u00a0<\/p>\n
A nationwide clinical trial conducted by the ECOG-ACRIN Cancer Research Group (ECOG-ACRIN) has now\u00a0demonstrated\u00a0a more effective approach. Results from the randomized Smokefree Support Study 2.0 (EAQ171CD,\u00a0NCT03808818), published in the\u00a0Journal of Clinical Oncology, found that\u00a0a\u00a0comprehensive,\u00a0sustained treatment strategy for tobacco\u00a0dependence, delivered during active cancer treatment,\u00a0doubled smoking-cessation rates compared with referral to a\u00a0Quitline\u00a0alone.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The study enrolled 306\u00a0recently diagnosed\u00a0patients\u00a0who were\u00a0receiving cancer treatment at 37 National Cancer Institute\u00a0(NCI)\u00a0Community Oncology Research Program (NCORP) sites nationwide.\u00a0The study\u00a0showed\u00a0that\u00a028.4 % of\u00a0patients assigned to 6\u00a0months of proactive telehealth counseling\u00a0and\u00a0nicotine replacement therapy\u00a0(NRT)\u00a0were not using tobacco after 6\u00a0months, compared with 14.7%\u00a0of\u00a0the\u00a0patients who were referred to a\u00a0Quitline\u00a0and had no further support from their health care team.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Among participants\u00a0who quit\u00a0smoking,\u00a0more than\u00a0half\u00a0quit\u00a0early, within 3 months,\u00a0and\u00a0relapses\u00a0remained\u00a0low.\u00a0The investigators\u00a0noted\u00a0that the extended duration of counseling and dosing of\u00a0NRT contributed\u00a0to the reduction in relapses.\u00a0<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Our study shows that patients undergoing cancer treatment are much more likely to quit smoking when they receive proactive, sustained support rather than a referral alone.”<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
Elyse R. Park,\u00a0PhD,\u00a0MPH,\u00a0lead author, clinical health\u00a0psychologist\u00a0at\u00a0Massachusetts General Hospital\u00a0and co-chair of the ECOG-ACRIN Psychosocial Outcomes and Health Promotion Subcommittee<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
“Just as importantly, these findings demonstrate that evidence-based tobacco treatment can be successfully integrated into routine community oncology care, making it easier for patients to receive the support they need while they are undergoing cancer treatment,”\u00a0she added.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Instead of expecting\u00a0patients to\u00a0reach out to\u00a0a\u00a0Quitline\u00a0on their own, the oncology care team connected participants\u00a0to a\u00a0centralized\u00a0team\u00a0of\u00a0tobacco treatment specialists for telehealth\u00a0counseling.\u00a0This\u00a0approach\u00a0provided\u00a0participants\u00a0across the country with\u00a0consistent\u00a0access to\u00a0evidence-based support\u00a0for tobacco cessation.\u00a0Because the program\u00a0fit\u00a0within existing treatment routines\u00a0and\u00a0sessions were virtual, no\u00a0additional\u00a0trips to the\u00a0treatment\u00a0center\u00a0were\u00a0required,\u00a0thus\u00a0reducing\u00a0that\u00a0practical\u00a0barrier to participation.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Participation rates varied significantly.\u00a0Among\u00a0patients assigned to the virtual\u00a0sustained\u00a0treatment,\u00a081%\u00a0attended\u00a0counseling\u00a0sessions. In contrast,\u00a0only 5% of\u00a0those\u00a0referred to a\u00a0Quitline\u00a0completed\u00a0even\u00a0a\u00a0single\u00a0session. Participants\u00a0in\u00a0the virtual\u00a0counseling\u00a0program were more likely to use NRT\u00a0when offered\u00a0(skin\u00a0patches\u00a0and\/or lozenges)\u00a0versus\u00a0when\u00a0referred. Self-reported\u00a0medication\u00a0use rates at 6\u00a0months were\u00a083%\u00a0in the sustained intervention group\u00a0and 49.5% in the control group.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Treatment\u00a0satisfaction was also\u00a0considered,\u00a0and\u00a0patient\u00a0exit interviews were conducted with\u00a0a subset of\u00a0study participants.\u00a0About 90% of recipients of the virtual sustained treatment\u00a0reported\u00a0receiving\u00a0the smoking cessation\u00a0assistance\u00a0they wanted,\u00a0compared with 40% of those\u00a0referred to the\u00a0quit line.\u00a0Participants\u00a0in the virtual program\u00a0cited\u00a0the\u00a0regular\u00a0check-ins,\u00a0behavioral\u00a0coaching, coping\u00a0strategies for\u00a0smoking urges,\u00a0and\u00a0NRT\u00a0as valuable.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The study was funded by the National\u00a0Cancer\u00a0Institute, part of the United States’ National Institutes of Health. It involved clinical sites that are members of NCORP, a\u00a0national network that brings cancer clinical trials and cancer care delivery research to community hospitals and practices across the United States.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The trial’s pragmatic design and broad eligibility criteria were intended to reflect patients and clinical practice\u00a0in routine community oncology settings.\u00a0<\/p>\n
“Integrating sustained tobacco treatment into community oncology settings can help close a critical gap in cancer care delivery. These findings support the next step of testing how best to\u00a0scale up\u00a0sustained, virtual tobacco treatment across community oncology settings so all patients with cancer can access evidence-based cessation support,” said senior author\u00a0Jamie S.\u00a0Ostroff, PhD, a\u00a0behavioral health scientist and clinical health psychologist at Memorial Sloan\u00a0Kettering Cancer Center.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The Smokefree Support Study 2.0\u00a0findings\u00a0come as cancer\u00a0care programs\u00a0nationwide\u00a0implement\u00a0standards\u00a0for universal tobacco screening and evidence-based smoking\u00a0cessation treatment\u00a0established\u00a0by the\u00a0NCI Cancer Center Cessation Initiative\u00a0and\u00a0the\u00a0American College of Surgeons Commission on Cancer. The study results provide important evidence to inform\u00a0the adoption of these practices\u00a0in\u00a0community oncology settings.\u00a0<\/p>\n
“The Smokefree Support Study 2.0\u00a0is a\u00a0great\u00a0example of\u00a0the\u00a0value of the NCORP network,\u00a0which provided an opportunity to evaluate the generalizability of this intervention\u00a0among adults with cancer\u00a0receiving care in the communities where they\u00a0work and live,” said\u00a0co-\u00a0author\u00a0Lynne I. Wagner, PhD, a\u00a0clinical health psychologist at the\u00a0University of North Carolina\u00a0at\u00a0Chapel Hill\u00a0and\u00a0Multiple-PI of the ECOG-ACRIN\u00a0NCORP Research Base.\u00a0<\/p>\n
“In this day and age,\u00a0the risks of tobacco\u00a0use\u00a0are well known,\u00a0so\u00a0adults who continue\u00a0to smoke\u00a0following a\u00a0diagnosis of\u00a0cancer are\u00a0truly struggling with\u00a0addiction and represent a\u00a0group that is difficult to treat.\u00a0Extending this\u00a0effective\u00a0tobacco treatment\u00a0intervention\u00a0to community settings is a remarkable accomplishment,”\u00a0she added.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Source:<\/p>\n
ECOG-ACRIN Cancer Research Group<\/a><\/p>\n Journal reference:<\/p>\n Park, E. R., et al. (2026) Virtual Sustained Tobacco Treatment for Patients With Cancer: A Randomized Controlled Trial (ECOG-ACRIN: EAQ171CD) Within the National Cancer Institute Community Oncology Research Program.\u00a0Journal of Clinical Oncology. DOI: 10.1200\/JCO-25-0226.\u00a0https:\/\/ascopubs.org\/doi\/10.1200\/JCO-25-02267<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"For\u00a0patients\u00a0diagnosed with cancer, continuing to smoke during treatment\u00a0may\u00a0shorten survival.\u00a0Persistent smoking\u00a0can\u00a0increase treatment toxicity, reduce\u00a0the\u00a0effectiveness\u00a0of cancer therapy, and raise the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":100963,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[165,19802,2118,7993,163,4144,85,46,80889,4712,1360,13672,3073,22914],"class_list":["post-555762","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-health","tag-cancer","tag-cancer-therapy","tag-cancer-treatment","tag-clinical-trial","tag-health","tag-hospital","tag-il","tag-israel","tag-nicotine","tag-oncology","tag-research","tag-smoking","tag-therapy","tag-tobacco"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/555762","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=555762"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/555762\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/100963"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=555762"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=555762"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=555762"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}