Cancer patients get more help to quit smoking

Cancer patients looking for support to quit smoking and other forms of tobacco will receive more help from the New Brunswick Cancer Network and Horizon Health Network.

The program will put in place smoking cessation practices as a standard of care for cancer patients across the Horizon Health Network in partnership with the cancer network.

The practices will help cancer patients improve their cancer treatments and recovery.

"Tobacco use reduces the effectiveness of many cancer treatments and increases the likelihood of complications and death in cancer patients," said Dr. Eshwar Kumar, co-chief executive officer of the New Brunswick Cancer Network. "Evidence suggests that the risk of dying from cancer could be lowered by 30 to 40 per cent by quitting smoking at the time of diagnosis."

Horizon Health Network's Centre of Excellence for Clinical Smoking Cessation will provide training and facilitate programs that will help put the evidence-based clinical smoking cessation practices in place across cancer care clinics.

Canadian Partnership Against Cancer is providing $200,000 in funding to the province to build or expand smoking cessation programs for patients in cancer care.

New Brunswick is one of eight provinces and territories to receive the funding.

"It's never too late to quit," said Dr. Heather Bryant, vice-president of Cancer Control. "Cancer patients can be highly motivated to give up smoking, but they need support. This funding will allow the New Brunswick Cancer Network, in partnership with the Horizon Health Network, to implement the highly successful Ottawa Model for Smoking Cessation in outpatient cancer sites."

The cancer network is going to use the project's experience to make the eventual implementation of tobacco cessation practices into the province's cancer care settings easier.