Dr. Bjurlin on “super easy” way to implement smoking cessation in patients with bladder cancer

In this video, Marc Bjurlin, DO, MSc, FACOS, shares the take-home message from the AUA 2024 abstract “Efficacy of inpatient, evidence-based tobacco use treatment of patients with bladder cancer after radical cystectomy.” Bjurlin is director of clinical trials and an associate professor of urology at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.

Transcription:

What is the take-home message for the practicing urologist?

There are many opportunities to support our patients with bladder cancer who smoke from their clinic appointments from their intravesical therapy visits to their surveillance cystoscopies. And really with this project, now that we've shown that inpatient post radical cystectomy is an opportune time to meet our patients during a time where they can't smoke and provide the cessation they need. And really, this is a super easy way to implement this smoking cessation pathway. And you can see it does have quite profound results really giving a positive impact on that opportunity to provide smoking cessation to our patients with bladder cancer.

Is there anything you would like to add?

I think this work does highlight the importance of how incorporating cigarette smoking cessation really should be part of the continuum of bladder cancer care in our in our patients who smoke and just another piece where we can support the positive health outcomes of quitting smoking.

This transcription was edited for clarity.