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S. Vallone
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P1.05 - Poster Session/ Prevention and Tobacco Control (ID 215)
- Event: WCLC 2015
- Type: Poster
- Track: Prevention and Tobacco Control
- Presentations: 1
- Moderators:
- Coordinates: 9/07/2015, 09:30 - 17:00, Exhibit Hall (Hall B+C)
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P1.05-005 - Italian Multicentric Survey on Smoking Cessation in Lung Disease Patients and the Role of Healthcare Workers in This Contest (ID 1343)
09:30 - 17:00 | Author(s): S. Vallone
- Abstract
Background:
Smoking is a risk factor for several lung diseases. Quitting smoking provides positive outcomes and gives the best chance for the treatment in patients with pulmonary diseases, including lung cancer diagnoses. Currently few centers in Italy offer counseling for smoking cessation in cancer patients (and for patients with other lung diseases), despite the demonstrated efficacy of it.
Methods:
408 patients with pulmonary diseases (72% with lung cancer) were prospectively and sequentially evaluated from January 2013 to February 2015. An anonymous survey was developed with the aim to understand if current or former smoker patients received information by healthcare workers about smoking cessation before or after the diagnosis, their reaction and the actions adopted for quitting smoking. The survey included the Fagerström test for assessing the intensity of addiction to nicotine and it was conducted in several Italian Thoracic Oncology Units and Pulmonology Divisions.
Results:
After a pulmonary disease diagnosis, 72% of patients state to quit smoking, 20% to smoke less or not feel the same pleasure as before and only 8% confirms to continue to smoke or smoking even more. Among former smokers (298 people), 150 patients state how long they quitted smoking and in 45% of the cases was at the time of diagnosis or even later, about 35% 10 years before the diagnosis and 8% between 5 and 10 years earlier, while 12% more recently. Most of current smokers state that they continue because smoking helps them to control the stress, others because they like it or are not able to quit and very few because is a repetitive gesture. Data show that 39% of patients did not receive information about smoking cessation by health professionals, 26% received it before the diagnosis, 12% after it and 23% received it both before and after the diagnosis. Concerning the reaction to the counseling, 53% considers positively the health care provider action, even if 28% hoped they could have helped them more quit smoking and 19% reports a warning and paternalistic attitude of them. Only 23% of patients who attempted to quit smoking considers the gradual termination as the most effective measure, more than the sudden interruption. Regarding the smoking-cessation method or specific therapy adopted, 65% disclosed they simply quitted smoking overnight and 80% confirmed it as the most effective technique, while only 16% used electronic cigarettes, 8% a nicotine replacement treatment, 7% books and 4% attending a dedicated clinic. The Fagerström Test confirms that 50% has a low to moderate dependence to nicotine, while 50% has a high dependence.
Conclusion:
The survey was distributed to 293 lung cancer patients and 115 with pulmonary disease (mainly COPD patients). The result analysis underlines that the vast majority quitted smoking after having received their diagnosis. No main differences were seen evaluating the group with malignant and non-malignant diseases. Although many of them got advice by healthcare workers, the recourse to the use of techniques, drugs or access to specific clinic is still very low, especially considering that 50% of patients result highly dependent to nicotine.
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P1.10 - Poster Session/ Advocacy (ID 228)
- Event: WCLC 2015
- Type: Poster
- Track: Advocacy
- Presentations: 1
- Moderators:
- Coordinates: 9/07/2015, 09:30 - 17:00, Exhibit Hall (Hall B+C)
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P1.10-005 - Immunotherapy, What Lung Cancer and Melanoma Patients ...and Physicians, Know (ID 1058)
09:30 - 17:00 | Author(s): S. Vallone
- Abstract
Background:
Advances in the understanding of the role of the immune system in tumor immune-surveillance have led in the last few years to the development of a series of new drugs rapidly affirmed as new paradigm of treatment for certain cancers, like advanced melanoma. The recent re-evaluation of the immunogenicity of Non-small Cell Lung Cancer (NSCLC) has opened a new field of research, with a new attempt to apply immunotherapy also to this disease.
Methods:
A 9 question-anonymous survey has been carried out by AIOM (Associazione Italiana di Oncologia Medica) and supported by WALCE (Women Against Lung Cancer in Europe) with the purpose to investigate patients’ knowledge about the immunotherapy, their expectations in terms of toxicity and efficacy, but also to evaluate how much physicians are becoming confident about the immunotherapy and their expected impact on daily clinical practice. The survey has been distributed, between 10th of November 2014 and 19th of March 2015, to 77 NSCLC patients (prevalently men and over 60 years old) and 89 melanoma patients (equally distributed for gender and age) within various Italian Oncologic Units. A similar electronic survey has been filled out by 128 and 68 physicians dealing with NSCLC and Melanoma, respectively, who reported to employ immunotherapy in their clinical practice in 55% and 74% of cases, respectively, and to have participated into clinical trials with immunotherapy in 39% and 41% of cases.
Results:
Patients' knowledge and expectations about immunotherapy resulted to be extremely heterogeneous. Only 19% of NSCLC patients, compared to 73% of melanoma patients, declared to have performed immunotherapy in their clinical history. Main results about patients' perception about immunotherapy are shown in Table 1. NSCLC and melanoma physicians globally reported a positive attitude for this new kind of treatment, postulating a general improving of their clinical practice in the next future (88% and 99% of cases, respectively). They have speculated a non-limiting toxicity profile of this drugs in 77% and 76% of cases, respectively. Figure 1
Conclusion:
Although the role of immunotherapy for NSCLC treatment, as already happened for melanoma in the past few years, still need a confirmation by the results of the ongoing clinical trials, patients and physicians widely express great expectation on this kind of treatment, waiting for a large anti-cancer efficacy together with a low toxicity.
