Brief physician-initiated quit-smoking strategies for clinical oncology settings: a trial coordinated by the Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group.

Purpose: Although tobacco use by cancer patients increases the risk of relapse, diminishes treatment efficacy, and worsens quality of life, about one third of patients who smoked before their diagnosis continue to smoke. Because patients have regular contact with oncologists, the efficacy of a physician-based smoking cessation treatment was evaluated.

Methods: Cancer patients (n = 432) were randomly assigned to either usual care or a National Institutes of Health (NIH) physician-based smoking intervention.