Stop Smoking Now Aids

Smoking Cessation Aimed at Bladder Cancer

Study Uses Hand-Held Computers With Quitting Tips

An ongoing smoking cessation study aims to reveal better ways to help bladder cancer patients stop smoking and thereby avoid the risk of negatively affecting their outcome.

“There is a clear connection between smoking and bladder cancer, and continued smoking following diagnosis may be associated with a worse prognosis,” says Jan Blalock, Ph.D., principal investigator on the study and assistant professor in M. D. Anderson’s Department of Behavioral Science.

Smokers at higher risk for bladder cancer

Smoking is the possible cause behind up to 40% of cases of bladder cancer, she says. In a previous research study involving 300 bladder cancer patients who were ex-smokers, quitters and continued smokers, 70% experienced recurrence. People who continued to smoke tended to have a cancer recurrence faster and experience other medical problems more rapidly than those classified as quitters and ex-smokers.

Funded by the National Cancer Institute’s Specialized Program of Research Excellence (SPORE), the current study involves two groups of randomly assigned participants.

Scheduled smokers who also take Bupropion SR- Scheduled smoking involves being prompted by a hand-held computer to smoke on a schedule during the three weeks prior to a targeted quit date, with increasing intervals between prompts.

This approach is intended to help smokers develop coping skills and break the association between environmental cues and the act of smoking, such as lighting up each morning when they prepare their first cup of coffee, before their quit date.

Participants who take Bupropion SR alone- Bupropion SR has been proven effective for smoking cessation, doubling the likelihood of quitting as compared to a placebo, Blalock says. It has been shown to be especially useful for women and people with a history of depression. It is approved for long-term use by people who have persistent withdrawal or who desire long-term therapy.

Each participant will be given tips for:

• Problem-solving and developing new skills to cope with not smoking
• Developing social support for the quit attempt in his or her environment

Patients are eligible if they:

• Have a history of bladder cancer
• Have undergone tumor resection
• Have completed any major cancer treatments
• Are willing to make an attempt to quit smoking within 30 days