Effectiveness of Smoking Cessation Interventions in People With Cancer: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials.

IntroductionSmoking at or following a cancer diagnosis increases both all-cause and cancer-specific mortality, adverse treatment outcomes, as well as the risk for disease progression and tobacco-related second primary cancers. This protocol outlines a systematic review and meta-analysis evaluating the effectiveness of smoking cessation interventions in cancer patients based on randomized controlled trials (RCTs), delivering the highest quality of evidence for causal inference. MethodsA systematic search of the literature will be conducted across PsychInfo, EMBASE (through OVID), PubMed (also through OVID), and the Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL). RCTs published in English, designed to assist adult cancer survivors who smoke to quit, regardless of their cancer type, stage, or treatment, will be included. Title and abstract screening will be carried out independently by two authors. All potentially eligible full-text articles will be independently reviewed. Any disagreements will be resolved through discussion. Extracted data will encompass study characteristics, intervention details, participant numbers and attributes, outcomes, quit attempts, and follow-up duration. We will evaluate the risk of bias using the Cochrane Risk of Bias Tool 2 (ROB-2). To evaluate the outcomes of the combined studies, a meta-analysis and/or network meta-analysis will be performed with both fixed-effect models and random-effects models using R. ConclusionThis systematic review will address a critical research gap and provide tailored insights for smoking cessation among cancer survivors.