Malignant Thoracic Neoplasm

This clinical trial evaluates the feasibility of a novel tobacco cessation resource called a Buckeye Quit Stick among smokers with a diagnosed or suspected thoracic cancer. Tobacco use is the single most preventable cause of disease, disability, and death in the United States. While the benefits of quitting smoking are numerous, rates of persistent smoking after cancer diagnosis remain high. Research has found that patients who quit smoking but subsequently relapse frequently report the hand/oral habit as a barrier to sustained smoking cessation. The Buckeye Quit Stick is an innovative cessation aid designed to directly address patients' hand/oral habit by substituting the cessation aid for cigarettes without integrating pharmacologic intervention, which is typically managed by their medical provider and may require direct supervision due to the patient's health status. The Buckeye Quit Stick is designed to satisfy the repeated hand/oral pattern or ritual, thereby avoiding the physical loss of holding a cigarette in the hand or mouth and the action of smoking. It may also help occupy fidgeting hands and potentially reduce stress and cravings. This novel cessation resource may address key factors that influence smoking abstinence and improve patients' health outcomes.

This study examines how the American College of Surgeons Geriatric Surgery Verification Program, also called the ACS GSV Program, is implemented at the James Cancer Hospital. The program is designed to improve surgical care for adults age 65 and older by helping care teams identify and address age-related needs before, during, and after surgery. Older adults with cancer may have concerns related to physical function, memory or thinking, medications, social support, and goals of care. If these needs are not recognized, patients may be at higher risk for complications, longer hospital stays, readmission, or discharge to a facility instead of home. The ACS GSV Program includes standards for geriatric surgery leadership, goals-of-care discussions, screening for age-related vulnerabilities, care plans for identified needs, age-friendly perioperative care, and regular review of surgical outcomes. This study will evaluate how well these standards are adopted across surgical oncology services and whether implementation is associated with better outcomes, such as shorter hospital stays, fewer complications, fewer readmissions, and improved discharge outcomes. The results may help improve surgical care workflows for older adults undergoing cancer surgery.