The Moffitt Cancer Center announced it has gotten a $2.8 million research grant from the National Cancer Institute to test the effectiveness of smoking cessation booklets.

The study will involve about 2,000 cigarette smokers who are interested in receiving information on how to quit smoking.  Such booklets are widely distributed but there is little research on how useful they are to smokers, Moffitt said in a statement.


Tampa-based Moffitt said the most effective way to quit smoking is by using a smoking cessation medication combined with individual or group counseling but that the vast majority of smokers prefer to quit without such intensive and expensive treatments. 

“Most smokers want some help to quit smoking but they are unable or unwilling to commit to a major treatment program,” Thomas Brandon, director of the Tobacco Research and Intervention Program at Moffitt and psychology professor at the University of South Florida, said in the statement.

“Instead, they often rely upon smoking cessation pamphlets or booklets that they receive from their physician or a health organization.  Our study will compare various smoking-cessation booklets to determine how well they actually help people quit smoking and then stay tobacco free,”  Brandon said.

Moffitt said smokers who sign up for the study will receive different booklets through the mail.  They will also complete a brief survey every six months for 2½ years to give feedback on the booklets and to report whether they have quit smoking.  There is no charge for the booklets and study participants will get “a small payment” for completing each of the surveys. 

For more information on Project Quit, call 1-877-954-2548, log on to moffitt.org/projectquit or e-mail projectquit@moffitt.org.