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 Family 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. First- or second-degree blood 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 will 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 genetic susceptibility testing for glutathione S transferase (GSTM1).
Participants who accept testing will receive their result online. Participants who decline
testing will be retained in 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.