Tobacco treatment program in an oncologic setting could foster smoking cessation

A tobacco treatment program delivered at a cancer center had average seven-day smoking abstinence rates of about 45% at three- and six-month follow-ups and nearly 44% at the nine-month follow-up, and those rates didn't differ between patients with and without cancer.

This observational study included 3,245 participants in a model tobacco treatment program (2,343 with current cancer; 309 with a history of cancer; and 593 with no history of cancer) that consisted of an in-person medical consultation, in-person and telephone counseling sessions, and prescription drug therapy. Limitations of the study include that it wasn't a randomized clinical trial. The findings suggest providing a comprehensive tobacco treatment program in an oncologic setting could foster smoking cessation, which can affect outcomes of patients with cancer who smoke.