What is it about?
The Respiragene test was developed in New Zealand as a part genetic (buccal sawab) part clinical risk score for cancer risk in smokers who do not quit. This protocol outlined a project to compare quit rate in smokers with and without the Respiragene test and knowledge of their risk score. Participants were randomised to two different clinics. They both attended an eight week =evening smoking cessation clinic but on different days. The Test Group had the Respiragene test on their first evening and were told their risk score. The control group had the same general support but without the Respiragene test and knowledge of their risk score. All participants were to attend a follow-up clinic at 6 months when smoking cessation was to be confirmed by a negative carbon monoxide breath test and a negative salivary cotinine test.
Featured Image
Photo by Mufid Majnun on Unsplash
Why is it important?
This project was planned to be carried out in an English primary care center. This eventually took place with patients registered as smokers being recruited by letters from their general medical practitioners (family doctors). The results were reported in BMC Research Notes and this report can be found on my Kudos page
Perspectives
Genetic test are becoming cheaper year on year and will eventually be freely available to doctors and their patients. It is important that their clinical value in the primary care setting is evaluated by research such as outlined above.
Dr John Anthony Alvan Nichols
Royal Society of Medicine
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Genetic test to stop smoking (GeTSS) trial protocol: randomised controlled trial of a genetic test (Respiragene) and Auckland formula to assess lung cancer risk, BMC Pulmonary Medicine, May 2014, Springer Science + Business Media,
DOI: 10.1186/1471-2466-14-77.
You can read the full text:
Resources
Contributors
The following have contributed to this page
