Trial Information

Impact of a Patient's Lung Cancer Diagnosis on Relatives' Understanding of Genetic Risk Information and Receptivity to Quit Smoking

The overarching objective of this observational prospective "Genetic Risk & Lung Cancer
Study" is to evaluate the impact of a loved one's lung cancer diagnosis on relative's
seeking and processing of information related to risks of smoking, genetic susceptibility,
and their receptivity to smoking cessation services. We plan to recruit 150 relatives of
lung cancer patients who are receiving care at H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center and Research
Institute in Tampa, Florida and the Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center at the Georgetown
University Medical Center (GUMC/LCCC). First- or second-degree blood relatives who are
current smokers between the ages of 18 to 55 will be eligible for the study. Because these
relatives will be living throughout the United Sates, a web-based research protocol will be
employed. A nurse recruiter will approach patients at Moffitt and assess their willingness
to do a telephone survey The overarching objective of this observational prospective
"Genetic Risk & Lung Cancer Study" is to evaluate the impact of a loved one's lung cancer
diagnosis on relative's seeking and processing of information related to risk of smoking,
genetic susceptibility, and their receptivity to smoking cessation services. We plan to
recruit 150 relatives of lung cancer patients who are receiving care at H. Lee Moffitt
Cancer Center and Research Institute in Tampa, Florida. First-or second-degree relatives who
are current smokers between the ages 18 to 55 will be eligible for the study. Because these
relatives will be living throughout the United States, a web-based research protocol wil be
employed. A nurse recruiter will approach patients at Moffitt and assess their willingness
to do a telephone survey to enumerate their relatives who smoke and be asked to give
permission to contact none, some or all of these relatives. These survey contacts with
patients and contacts with relatives for screening and recruitment will be conducted in
partnership with an ongoing recruitment activities for a five-year, NCI-funded randomized
controlled intervention trial (RCT) at Duke University Medical Center (Quit Smoking Program
for Lung Cancer Patient's Families or "Family Ties", Duke IRB# 4620, Bastian, PI). Relatives
who agree to participate will be asked to log on to a password protected website and view
two online educational sessions and complete three online surveys. As part of the
educational session, participants will be offered free geneticsusceptibility testing for
glutathione S transferase (GSTM1). Participants who accept testing will receive their result
online. Participants who decline testing will be retained in the the study and offered all
the same smoking cessation services provided to those who accept testing. Participants will
be sent instructions to collect their own buccal samples and postage-paid mailing envelopes
to return the sample to a CLIA-approved laboratory at Duke. Survey assessments will include
questions about risk perceptions, beliefs and attitudes related to lung cancer, emotional
responses to the patient's diagnosis, smoking history, motivation to quit, reactions to
information about smoking and genetic risk, interest in genetic testing, comprehension of
susceptibility feedback, and interest in receiving smoking cessation services. The primary
outcome variable will be seeking of free quit smoking services. Participating relatives will
be surveyed by telephone via the Duke RCT infrastructure 6-months after completing the
online protocol.