Grant Number:	1R01CA315499-01 Interpret this number
Primary Investigator:	Lowenstein, Lisa
Organization:	University Of Tx Md Anderson Can Ctr
Project Title:	Leveraging Tobacco Quitlines to Disseminate Lung Cancer Screening Educational Materials for Persons Who Smoke
Fiscal Year:	2026

PROJECT SUMMARY Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer-related death among adults in the United States, yet screening rates remain low at around 13% to 20% of the eligible population. There is an urgent need to develop, test, and implement innovative approaches to increase the awareness of and demand for lung cancer screening (LCS). The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) requires a counseling and shared decision-making (SDM) visit prior to LCS but no longer limit who can conduct the visit to physicians and other approved non- physician providers. Tobacco treatment specialists working through quitlines, an existing public health infrastructure, are a unique and untapped resource for reaching many persons who smoke and can benefit from LCS. Quitlines are ideal partners to reach many potentially eligible persons who currently smoke and are engaged in smoking cessation. Nearly 56% of quitline clients meet the age eligibility criterion for LCS and many likely have a smoking history of at least 20 pack-years required for screening. The broad, long-term goal of this project is to decrease lung cancer deaths through increased screening. Our short-term goal is to compare two dissemination strategies (low-touch strategy versus high-touch strategy) to increase the awareness of and demand for LCS. The high-touch strategy will have tobacco treatment specialists identify eligible quitline clients, text/email LCS educational materials, deliver the counseling and SDM visit, and navigate and facilitate quitline clients to healthcare providers to order and schedule LCS. The project’s aims are: 1) Compare two dissemination strategies that vary in intensity on demand for LCS; 2) Evaluate the impact on reach of the high-touch and low-touch strategies to disseminate LCS educational materials (i.e., view of the decision aid or participation in a decision coaching visit); and 3) Evaluate the financial sustainability and cost- effectiveness of the two approaches of disseminating LCS educational materials. Quitline clients (N=600) from Arizona, Massachusetts, Michigan, and Pennsylvania will be randomized to either receive the high-touch or low-touch strategy. Participants will complete surveys at baseline and follow-up (one and six months after enrolling in quitline services) about LCS completion and view/use of the LCS educational materials, SDM outcomes, and smoking cessation. We will collect information on the financial sustainability of the dissemination strategies and cost-effectiveness. We will also conduct qualitative interviews with representatives from the quitline community and the healthcare sector toward the end of the study and quitline participants after their 6-month survey to explore the financial sustainability of the two approaches and quitline participants’ experiences with completing/not completing LCS. This highly impactful project brings together a team with established, working relationships, builds upon our prior work, and exemplifies our commitment and continued partnership to decrease lung cancer mortality.





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