Effect of Lung Cancer Diagnoses on Family Behaviors

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.