Training oncology care providers in the assessment and treatment of tobacco use and dependence.

Background: Clinical practice guidelines for promoting smoking cessation in cancer care exist; however, most oncology settings have not established tobacco use assessment and treatment as standard care. Inadequate staff training and other implementation challenges have been identified as barriers for delivery of evidence-based tobacco treatment. Providing training in tobacco treatment tailored to the unique needs of tobacco-dependent patients with cancer is one strategy to improve adoption of best practices to promote smoking cessation in cancer care.

Effect of Sustained Smoking Cessation Counseling and Provision of Medication vs Shorter-term Counseling and Medication Advice on Smoking Abstinence in Patients Recently Diagnosed With Cancer: A Randomized Clinical Trial.

Importance: Persistent smoking may cause adverse outcomes among patients with cancer. Many cancer centers have not fully implemented evidence-based tobacco treatment into routine care.

Objective: To determine the effectiveness of sustained telephone counseling and medication (intensive treatment) compared with shorter-term telephone counseling and medication advice (standard treatment) to assist patients recently diagnosed with cancer to quit smoking.

Rapid Scaling Up of Telehealth Treatment for Tobacco-Dependent Cancer Patients During the COVID-19 Outbreak in New York City.

The (COVID-19) pandemic resulted in sudden disruption of routine clinical care necessitating rapid transformation to maintain clinical care while safely reducing virus contagion. Memorial Sloan Kettering (MSK) experienced a rapid evolution from delivery of in-person cessation counseling services to virtual telehealth treatments for our tobacco-dependent cancer patients. To examine the effect of rapid scaling of tobacco treatment telehealth on patient engagement, as measured by attendance rates for in-person counseling visits versus remote telehealth counseling visits.

Integrating tobacco treatment into cancer care: Study protocol for a randomized controlled comparative effectiveness trial.

Background: Despite the well-established risks of persistent smoking, 10-30% of cancer patients continue to smoke after diagnosis. Evidence-based tobacco treatment has yet to be integrated into routine oncology care. This paper describes the protocol, manualized treatment, evaluation plan, and overall study design of comparing the effectiveness and cost of two treatments across two major cancer centers.