Cigarette Smoking: Health Risks and How to Quit (PDQ®)–Health Professional Version

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Changes to This Summary (09/21/2018)

The PDQ cancer information summaries are reviewed regularly and updated as new information becomes available. This section describes the latest changes made to this summary as of the date above.

Evidence of Benefit

Revised text to state that research to determine the potential risks and benefits of these new tobacco products is just beginning to emerge, and initial findings are mixed. Also added text about a recent pragmatic trial that randomly assigned smokers who were employed at 54 companies to access one of four conditions, which included usual care, U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved cessation medications, electronic cigarettes (or e-cigarettes), and financial incentives; the authors found that financial incentives added to free FDA-approved cessation medications resulted in higher quit rates than did cessation medications alone, and among smokers who received usual care, the addition of free cessation medications or e-cigarettes did not provide an added benefit (cited Halpern et al. as reference 75).

This summary is written and maintained by the PDQ Screening and Prevention Editorial Board, which is editorially independent of NCI. The summary reflects an independent review of the literature and does not represent a policy statement of NCI or NIH. More information about summary policies and the role of the PDQ Editorial Boards in maintaining the PDQ summaries can be found on the About This PDQ Summary and PDQ® - NCI's Comprehensive Cancer Database pages.

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