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Kicking the Habit After a Cancer Diagnosis · Talking FACS

• 0:01
  Welcome to Talking FACS, and thank you for tuning in to Cancer Conversations
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  on Talking FACS, a podcast collaboration between the University of Kentucky
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  Markey Cancer Center and the UK Martin-Gatton College of Agriculture,
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  Food and Environments Cooperative Extension Service.
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  We will share with you the latest developments in cancer prevention,
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  diagnosis, treatment and research from the experts at Markey Cancer Center,
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  Kentucky's only National Cancer Institute designated Comprehensive Cancer Center.
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  Talking FACS is hosted by the UK Family and Consumer Sciences Extension Program.
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  Our educators share research knowledge with individuals, families,
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  and communities to improve quality of life.
• 0:44
  Hello and welcome to Cancer Conversations on Talking FACS.
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  This partnership presentation between the University of Kentucky Markey Cancer
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  Center and Family and Consumer Sciences Extension brings you the latest cancer
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  research news that you can use to improve your quality of life.
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  I'm your host, Mindy McCulley, Extension Specialist for Instructional Support
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  with Family and Consumer Sciences Extension at the University of Kentucky.
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  If you are a smoker, no doubt you have heard the many benefits of quitting.
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  Today, my guest, Dr. Tia Borger, a clinical psychologist and assistant professor
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  in the Department of Psychiatry is going to talk to us about the benefits of
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  quitting smoking after a cancer diagnosis. Welcome, Tia.
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  Hi, I'm excited to be here. We are really excited to hear about these benefits
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  because I know, like I said, so many people have heard the benefits of stopping that habit.
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  But what is the difference between smoking when you have this cancer diagnosis
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  and stopping after that diagnosis?
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  Yeah, so kind of all the same benefits apply whether or not you have cancer, right?
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  So our blood flows better, our lungs work better, all those sorts of things.
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  The added benefits, if you have cancer and you are continuing to smoke,
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  there's different benefits of quitting.
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  So we know that people that are able to quit smoking after they're diagnosed
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  with cancer experience a reduction in the risk of early mortality.
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  They're less likely for their disease to progress. They're more likely for their treatment to work.
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  And overall, they just report having a better quality of life.
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  So it's kind of a myth that once you have cancer, there's kind of no reason to stop smoking.
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  There's actually lots of benefits, including living longer, your treatment working
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  better, and just being able to live a better quality of life.
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  So I'm sure that the same barriers that exist for people who are just trying
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  to quit exist for those who are trying to quit with this cancer diagnosis.
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  So are there the same medications that can be used to help people quit?
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  Yeah, so definitely those same barriers apply, right?
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  Other people in your life smoking makes it harder for you to smoke.
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  That's true whether or not you have cancer.
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  A different barrier that sometimes we talk about specifically for people who
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  have cancer is just that increased level of stress in your life.
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  Obviously, dealing with cancer is a really stressful time in your life throughout
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  treatment and even managing any side effects or late effects later on in life.
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  So that increased stress can actually make it harder for people to quit smoking.
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  So any treatment would also want to focus on helping people deal better with
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  that stress of cancer to help them quit more successfully.
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  So in terms of medications, all the same medications that are prescribed for
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  stopping smoking, whether or not you have cancer, still apply.
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  So, any sort of what we call nicotine replacement therapy, which is nicotine
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  patch, nicotine gum, nicotine lozenge, those are still safe and effective for people who have cancer.
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  Other medications such as vareniclin, which is also called Chantix,
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  can still be prescribed.
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  And then Welbutrin is another common medication prescribed to help people quit smoking.
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  And again, those can still be prescribed for people who have cancer as well.
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  Do you have to worry about any interactions between the cancer treatment and
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  the cessation treatment, I guess?
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  Yeah, that's a really good question. So, I'm not a medical doctor,
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  and I would really recommend just talking with your oncologist or primary care
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  doctor just to ensure there aren't any interactions.
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  I haven't heard of many interactions happening. I know lots of cancer patients
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  who are on these stop-smoking medications, and I've worked with them in my clinical practice.
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  So, it doesn't tend to be too much of a problem, but if it's something that
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  you're worried about, definitely talk with your doctor just to ensure there
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  aren't going to be any interaction effects.
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  So that leads me to my next question. You are a clinical psychologist.
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  Yes. So I am sure that the methods that you probably use frequently involve
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  counseling or behavioral support as well. That's right.
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  Absolutely. My work in smoking cessation, I've worked with folks who have cancer
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  and then people who don't or have other sorts of chronic illnesses.
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  And my job is, first of all, just to kind of make sure that people know about
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  the medications that we just talked about and how to use them.
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  They're not the most straightforward. So we'll do just a little bit of like
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  education on how to use the medications and the ways that we know are going
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  to be the most effective.
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  And then the rest of the time we work together, we'll be focusing on that behavioral
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  support. And really what that entails is kind of what I talked about earlier.
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  So teaching different strategies to help you cope with both the stress in your
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  life more effectively and helping you cope with the stress of no longer having
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  cigarettes in your life or other types of tobacco products,
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  because that can be a pretty stressful experience, especially for people who
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  have smoked for a long time.
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  So we'll do lots of different coping strategies, figure out what works for you,
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  what doesn't work for you, what situations it's going to work in,
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  and really just troubleshoot to come up with a good coping plan.
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  The other aspect of behavioral support is kind of helping people on the more
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  like habit side of smoking.
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  So a lot of people tend to smoke at kind of the same parts of their day or when
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  they're doing the same activities.
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  One I hear a lot is, I always smoke a cigarette when I drink my morning coffee
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  or when I'm reading the newspaper.
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  So we will kind of find some different replacement behaviors that we can do
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  during those times that we tend to smoke more instead of reaching for a cigarette.
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  So that's kind of what behavioral support is going to in plan,
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  both coping and then dealing with those habits or kind of like associations
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  that we build with cigarettes during the day. Okay.
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  So are there resources that are available to help people get started with quitting?
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  Yes, absolutely. Just some different ideas would be, first, you can always talk
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  with an oncologist, nurse, or primary care doctor, they're going to be the ones
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  able to talk the most about any of those stop smoking medications.
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  A lot of them are provided free through insurance, which is great because they can be pretty pricey.
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  So make sure you check with your doctors about that.
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  There's also a number you can call that is 1-800-QUIT-NOW.
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  It is a Kentucky-based free smoking cessation phone number. It's anonymous.
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  It's 24-7. So you can call anytime.
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  They will connect you with a stop smoking expert who can give you advice,
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  kind of review any skills that you have learned, or if you're brand new and
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  just kind of want to talk about how do I increase my motivation or confidence to quit?
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  Those are barriers that we hear a lot.
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  So that 1-800-QUIT-NOW is a really good option.
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  There's also an app called Smoke Free Text that's free that has some different
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  resources to help people stop smoking.
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  The National Cancer Institute or NCI's website has really good resources.
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  And then anyone who is a patient at UK Markey Cancer Center can be asked to
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  be referred to its tobacco treatment program.
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  So it consists of tobacco treatment specialists that work specifically with
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  patients who have cancer or are in finished treatment.
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  So anybody who's had cancer at any point in your life, if you want to quit smoking,
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  it's a free resource. You can meet with those counselors and talk about medications,
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  talk about how do I get motivation.
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  And you can do that either in person or like over the phone or video conferencing.
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  So there's lots of options.
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  If you live far away from Markey and still want that resource,
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  you're able to do that from home.
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  And these are all such great resources that we will link in the show notes so
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  that they're easily accessible.
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  So why should someone quit smoking after they already have cancer?
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  I would say there's lots of benefits.
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  One would be you're going to have a decreased risk of mortality.
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  Either overall mortality and cancer-specific mortality. So there's an increased
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  chance of living longer.
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  Your disease, your cancer is less likely to progress, and your treatment is
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  more likely to work better.
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  So whether that be surgery, chemotherapy, radiation, those treatments actually
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  work better if you quit smoking.
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  And then the last benefit is people who have quit smoking just report an overall
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  better quality of life than people who continue to smoke.
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  So they're able to live, do more physical things, have better mental health,
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  better social relationships, and those sorts of things.
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  So there's lots of benefits to quitting even after you have cancer.
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  I think that these are all such great resources that you've provided and all
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  the reasons for quitting. And I have one more question.
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  Sure. What about non-smoking types of tobacco use? Is there a benefit in stopping
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  those when you have a cancer diagnosis?
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  Absolutely. There's absolutely a benefit. The same sorts of benefits will apply
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  and the same sort of treatments will apply.
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  They may prescribe, so instead of using like a nicotine patch,
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  if you use like a chew tobacco, they may want you to use like a nicotine lozenge
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  or a gum just because that's more similar to a dipping kind of tobacco.
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  There'll be different replacement behaviors that we will ask you to work on,
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  kind of in the counseling sort of thing, but the coping strategies will all still apply.
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  So very similar benefits of quitting, very similar treatment.
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  It's just as important that you quit that non-cigarette tobacco as it adds with cigarettes.
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  Okay. Well, Dr. Borger, thank you so much for your time today.
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  I know that this is information that is really going to benefit a lot of Kentuckians across the state.
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  Well, yes, I'm really happy to talk about this topic.
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  It's one that I'm really passionate about and excited to share with people.
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  So thank you all for having me. And if you're just tuning in,
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  you're listening to Cancer Conversations on Talking FACS, and we're available
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  Thank you for listening to Cancer Conversations on Talking FACS.
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  Our goal is to connect you with the latest advances in cancer research in the Commonwealth.
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  If you enjoyed today's podcast and have a suggestion for a future show topic,
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  please message us on the UK Markey Cancer Center Facebook page at facebook.com
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  forward slash UK Markey or visit our website at markey.uky.edu for more information.
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  at your local extension office or online at fcs.uky.edu.
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  Building Strong Families, Building Kentucky. It starts with us.
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  Music.