When Rita Martinez was diagnosed with cancer last year, she knew quitting smoking would be hard. But she had help. Through a virtual program that paired her with a counselor and provided free nicotine patches and lozenges, Rita became one of hundreds of cancer patients who successfully quit smoking — even while battling the disease.
A new clinical trial published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology shows just how powerful that help can be. Researchers from Mass General Brigham Cancer Institute and Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center tested a smoking cessation program with 306 cancer patients at 37 community cancer care sites across the United States. The results were striking: patients who received virtual counseling plus nicotine replacement therapy were nearly twice as likely to quit smoking after six months compared to patients who only got standard care.
The program wasn't complicated. Participants could speak with tobacco cessation counselors over video or phone — up to 11 sessions — and received free nicotine replacement products like lozenges and patches mailed to their homes. Spanish-speaking patients were included, making the program accessible to a broader group of people.
"Our findings show that patients are willing to engage in virtual sustained tobacco treatment and that this approach can meaningfully improve quit rates in community-based oncology practice," said Jamie S. Ostroff, chief of the Behavioral Sciences Service at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, who co-led the trial.
The researchers found something important: the more sessions a person completed, the better their chances of quitting. Patients in the program were also nearly four times more likely to use FDA-approved cessation medications, which are safe and effective.
Why does this matter? Roughly 15 percent of newly diagnosed cancer patients smoke, and many keep smoking even after their diagnosis. Continued smoking can make cancer treatment less effective and worsen side effects. Yet for the roughly 80 percent of cancer patients who receive their care at local community clinics — rather than at large research hospitals — there hasn't been a proven, effective program available until now.
"Tobacco treatment is simply essential for quality, comprehensive cancer care," said Elyse R. Park, Ph.D., MPH, who led the study. She noted that the program was not only effective but also cost-effective and satisfying for patients — a combination that makes it promising for wider adoption.
The hope is that this model could eventually become standard care at community cancer centers nationwide, giving more patients like Rita a real shot at becoming smoke-free.