Newswise — PHILADELPHIA – A new treatment program that combines the power of technology with tried and true methods to help cancer patients overcome their addiction to tobacco is ready to enroll its first patients at Penn Medicine’s Abramson Cancer Center. As part of the program, doctors are alerted about a patient’s tobacco use through the electronic medical record. At that point, an automated referral is made for the patient to Penn’s Tobacco Use Treatment Service (TUTS), which then directly provides patients with state-of-the-science tobacco use treatment in an effort to get them to quit for good and assist with their medical treatment and recovery.
Nearly 10 percent of survivors continue to smoke cigarettes, according to the American Cancer Society. More than 80 percent of those survivors smoke every day. And, importantly, the most recent United States Surgeon General’s report concluded that, based on the existing scientific evidence, quitting smoking improves the prognosis of cancer patients.
“We wanted to develop the infrastructure to ensure that all cancer patients are screened for tobacco dependence and contacted by a trained tobacco treatment specialist who can help them quit,” said the project’s co-leader Robert A. Schnoll, PhD, an associate professor in the Department of Psychiatry, the co-leader of Penn’s Tobacco and Environmental Carcinogenesis Program, the program leader and director of the Center for Interdisciplinary Research on Nicotine Addiction, and a member of Penn’s Abramson Cancer Center.
Once doctors get an electronic alert about a patient’s tobacco use, that patient is screened for available smoking cessation clinical trials or for a smoking cessation program. Certified Tobacco Treatment Specialists then provide behavioral counseling and recommend medication, and each patient is provided with an individualized treatment plan. This can also include referral to the free PA Quit-line cessation service, navigation to find medication, and hands-on, individualized in-person or phone smoking cessation counseling.
The initial focus of the program is the Department of Radiation Oncology, which Schnoll says they chose because it “provides a nexus point for many cancer patients, so we can ensure substantial access to Penn patients.”
“Our oncologists are dedicated to addressing tobacco dependence among our patients, and we as a department are committed to expanded training and education,” said James Metz, MD, chair of Radiation Oncology. “Being part of an academic institution like Penn gives us the chance to work with outside departments to further these sorts of important initiatives to improve patient care, and we’re always pleased to take advantage of opportunities like this.”
“Building this program in such a focused population will allow us to understand what works best and what needs to be refined,” said the project’s co-leader Frank T. Leone, MD, MS, an associate professor of Medicine. “In the long term, we hope to bring this program to the rest of the Abramson Cancer Center and possibly other specialties throughout the health system.”
Initial support for the program came from a $100,000 grant from the CVS Health Foundation. Penn was also awarded a $500,000 grant as part of the National Cancer Institute’s Cancer Centers Cessation Initiative – known as C3I and part of the Cancer Moonshot initiative – to further develop and then expand this program across the cancer center.
###
Penn Medicine is one of the world's leading academic medical centers, dedicated to the related missions of medical education, biomedical research, and excellence in patient care. Penn Medicine consists of the Raymond and Ruth Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania (founded in 1765 as the nation's first medical school) and the University of Pennsylvania Health System, which together form a $6.7 billion enterprise.
The Perelman School of Medicine has been ranked among the top five medical schools in the United States for the past 20 years, according to U.S. News & World Report's survey of research-oriented medical schools. The School is consistently among the nation's top recipients of funding from the National Institutes of Health, with $392 million awarded in the 2016 fiscal year.
The University of Pennsylvania Health System's patient care facilities include: The Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania and Penn Presbyterian Medical Center -- which are recognized as one of the nation's top "Honor Roll" hospitals by U.S. News & World Report -- Chester County Hospital; Lancaster General Health; Penn Wissahickon Hospice; and Pennsylvania Hospital -- the nation's first hospital, founded in 1751. Additional affiliated inpatient care facilities and services throughout the Philadelphia region include Good Shepherd Penn Partners, a partnership between Good Shepherd Rehabilitation Network and Penn Medicine.
Penn Medicine is committed to improving lives and health through a variety of community-based programs and activities. In fiscal year 2016, Penn Medicine provided $393 million to benefit our community.
RSS