Program that helps cancer patients stop smoking available at LHSC

From left: Jennifer Murray (Nurse Practitioner, Cancer Care), Catherine Bond-Mills (Pharmacist, Pharmacy – Oncology and Renal), and Spencer Martin (Manager, Pharmacy – Oncology and Renal) in the Verspeeten Family Cancer Centre

Smoking Treatment for Ontario Patients (STOP) is a program offered by the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) which helps patients stop smoking.

The program is now being offered in London Health Sciences Centre (LHSC) to patients with head and neck cancers - although they already have a positive cancer diagnosis, it’s important for those patients to quit smoking as it can improve outcomes.

“[Smoking cessation] should be a high-priority intervention. We know it can take numerous attempts at quitting before patients can break the habit, and we also know that nicotine replacement therapy can double the chances of someone quitting successfully,” explained Jennifer Murray, Nurse Practitioner, Cancer Care at LHSC.

“Follow-up is critical in supporting patients in their goals given the chronic and relapsing patterns of tobacco addiction. With the STOP program, patients can now be connected to counselling surrounding their nicotine use and access nicotine replacement products.”

Head and neck cancers include mouth, throat and voice box, but does not include brain, esophageal or lung cancers.

Murray supports patients at LHSC’s Verspeeten Family Cancer Centre, and will identify patients that are smoking and interested in quitting.

The program includes the provision of nicotine replacement therapy like patches, gum or losenges, as well as counselling - providing up to 26 weeks of services free of charge.

The program is more than counselling, it requires the support of several healthcare workers, “Pharmacists play a critical role by offering personalized smoking cessation counselling, assessing patient readiness to quit and helping develop tailored plans to quit,” said Interim Pharmacy Manager Spencer Martin, who cares for patients in oncology and renal medicines at LHSC. “The STOP program allows us to take a more proactive role in a patient’s smoking cessation journey – a critical, but often under addressed aspect of patient care in cancer populations.”