Smoking cessation and relapse during a lung cancer screening program.
BACKGROUND
The potential for negative screening to reduce smoking cessation and long-term abstinence is a concern in lung cancer screening. We examine whether consistently negative results during long-term participation in a lung cancer screening program reduce cessation or increase relapse.


METHODS
Participants (N = 2,078) in the Early Lung Cancer Action Program received annual screenings and periodic smoking behavior surveys over a follow-up period as long as 12 years. Point abstinence and prolonged abstinence were examined among 730 baseline smokers. Relapse was examined among 1,227 former smokers who quit for 1 year or more at enrollment, 121 recent quitters at enrollment, and 155 baseline smokers who quit during follow-up. Abstinence and relapse for participants with consistently negative computerized tomography scan results were compared with those with non-cancer-positive results using stratified Cox models.


RESULTS
Baseline smokers with negative computerized tomography scans had a 28% lower likelihood of achieving point abstinence at one or more follow-up assessments compared with those with positive scans (hazard ratio, 0.72; P < 0.0004), but consistently negative scans were not associated with a lower likelihood of prolonged abstinence. A consistently negative scan was not associated with a higher likelihood of relapse back to smoking for long-term former smokers, recent quitters, or those who quit during follow-up.


CONCLUSIONS
We did not detect a lower long-term smoking abstinence or increased relapse over a 6-year period of follow-up among individuals participating in a lung cancer screening program who have a consistently negative screening compared with those with a positive, but noncancer, screening result.
Anderson
Christy M
CM
University of California, San Diego, Del Mar, 92014, USA.
Yip
Rowena
R
Henschke
Claudia I
CI
Yankelevitz
David F
DF
Ostroff
Jamie S
JS
Burns
David M
DM
D001294:Attitude to Health; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D015438:Health Behavior; D006801:Humans; D008175:Lung Neoplasms / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000523:psychology*; D008297:Male; D008403:Mass Screening / Q000523:psychology*; D008875:Middle Aged; D009042:Motivation; D011379:Prognosis; D012008:Recurrence; D012307:Risk Factors; D012907:Smoking / Q000523:psychology*; D016540:Smoking Cessation / Q000523:psychology*; D015996:Survival Rate; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed