Impact of a Gene Test for Susceptibility to Lung Cancer in Smokers

Summary

Professor RP Young (Associate Professor of Medicine and Molecular Medicine, School of Biological Sciences, University of Auckland) and his team have developed a reliable genetic test "Respiragene" based on 20 single nucleotide polymorphisms that can be used (together with details of personal and family history) to calculate a smoker's lifetime risk of developing lung cancer. The expectation is that whatever the score (estimated lifetime risk will vary from 5% to 50%) the result will counter "optimism bias" of the smoker and encourage smoking cessation and this assumption is supported by previous research on similar tests and smoking cessation. The investigators plan to recruit two groups of subjects for smoking cessation but only one group will have the Respiragene test. Eight weekly smoking cessation sessions will be carried out at a Surrey primary care medical centre and will follow the usual format for National Health Service smoking cessation clinics using Champix (varenicline), counselling and the carbon monoxide breath meter but with added: evaluation questionnaires, fagerstrom nicotine addiction score, salivary cotinine (metabolite of nicotine) test. The main outcome measures will be estimation of smoking cessation at 4 weeks and six months after the completion of the seven smoking cessation sessions. Successful smoking cessation has to be confirmed by negative salivary cotinine at 4 weeks and six months and questionnaires will be used to estimate the influence of the Respiragene test compared with standard procedures such as counselling and the carbon monoxide breath readings.

Conditions

• Smoking Cessation

Interventions

GENETIC

Respiragene test and risk score

This 12 gene test used with other data (family history, age and spirometry result) to calculate lifetime risk of lung cancer in smokers who do not quit smoking. This intervention is expected to be a motivator to quit.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• University of Surrey

  collaborator OTHER

• Lab 21, Cambridge

  collaborator UNKNOWN

• NHS Research and Development

  collaborator OTHER_GOV

• Sussex NHS Research Consortium

  lead OTHER_GOV

Principal Investigators

• John Nichols, MB ChB · Surrey Primary Care Research Unit

Study Design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

PREVENTION

Masking

SINGLE

Model

PARALLEL

Eligibility

Min Age

20 Years

Max Age

70 Years

Sex

ALL

Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2011-09-30

Primary Completion

2013-02-28

Completion

2013-03-31

Countries

• United Kingdom

Study Locations