image: MUSC Hollings Cancer Center researcher Dr. Michael Cummings is one of the leaders of the global tobacco study. view more
Credit: MUSC Hollings Cancer Center
Researchers from MUSC Hollings Cancer Center are part of a $10 million five-year global study funded by the National Cancer Institute that will examine how regulatory policies affect smoking, vaping and the use of other nicotine products.
The multicenter study will evaluate the behavioral and long-term health impacts of different regulatory approaches to e-cigarettes and other new nicotine products among youth and adults in seven countries. Other collaborating institutions include Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at Virginia Tech Carilion, Georgetown University, Kings College London, Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center, the University of Melbourne (Australia), the University of South Carolina and the University of Waterloo (Canada).
K. Michael Cummings, Ph.D., one of the study leaders and co-leader of Hollings Cancer Center’s Tobacco Research Program, said the market for tobacco products has expanded rapidly in the past decade, as e-cigarettes, heated tobacco products and other new nicotine products are now available in addition to cigarettes and cigars. Countries around the world have taken different approaches to regulating these new products, with some governments encouraging smokers who can’t quit to switch to these products and others adopting more restrictive policies, hoping to reduce use by nonsmoking youth who might become addicted to them.
The study allows researchers to examine what different countries have done to regulate tobacco products and how different regulations affect tobacco use behaviors. Researchers will compare patterns of tobacco use among teens and adults in seven countries selected because of varying regulatory approaches to the marketing and sale of tobacco products. The countries involved in the study include the United States, Canada, England, Australia, New Zealand, South Korea and Japan.
“With the rapid evolution of potentially lower-risk nicotine products now entering the marketplace, the need for evidence to shape regulatory policies is more important than ever,” said Cummings, who also is a professor in MUSC’s Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences. “To date, most of the policies adopted on e-cigarettes and other new nicotine products have been based on emotion and guesswork. By comparing the experiences of different countries with varying regulatory approaches, the study seeks to inform United States public policy, based upon the best science available to maximize population health.”
Hollings Cancer Center director Raymond N. DuBois, M.D., Ph.D., said the study reflects the diversity of research being conducted at Hollings, ranging from cancer control to population health.
“The policy research on smoking has been one of the main reasons for the positive trends we’ve observed in reduced cancer mortality over the past 60 years. Most people think about smoking and lung cancer, but smoking is the cause of 13 different cancers, accounting for about one-third of all cancer deaths," he said. "The current NCI-funded study will help to guide future evidence-based policies that, if implemented by governments, have the potential to prevent millions of cancer deaths around the globe.”
The five-year study builds on the work of the International Tobacco Control Policy Evaluation Project, known as the ITC project, which for nearly 20 years has conducted research on the impact of the World Health Organization’s Framework Convention on Tobacco Control — a health treaty adopted by over 180 countries aimed at reducing the global harms of tobacco use. The ITC project has conducted studies across 31 countries, contributing to the evidence base to support government mandated product marketing regulations such as health warnings, tobacco taxes, clean indoor air rules and standardized packaging.
Cummings said this study brings together a dream team of experts from around the globe who hold different perspectives about tobacco regulations, so it creates a healthy dynamic for conducting the research that allows the data and science to influence policy.
The global study is divided into four parts. The first project will evaluate the behavioral and long-term health impacts of different regulatory approaches to e-cigarettes and other new nicotine products among adults in the seven included countries.
The second project involves adolescents age 16 to 19 in the U.S., Canada and England. “This study will also include adolescents who don’t currently smoke because we want to know how they pick up the habit in the first place,” Cummings explained. “What makes someone want to start using these products?”
The third project involves controlled laboratory-based experiments, in which a virtual tobacco store is created to allow study participants to indicate their preferences for different products. Cummings said this marketplace allows the researchers to control experimentally how consumers might respond to things like flavor bans, differing prices of products and even product bans that might be implemented by governments.
The fourth project combines data from the above studies with government surveys and industry data to model how different policies may influence tobacco use behaviors and downstream health outcomes.
Cummings said he’s grateful to the NCI, which historically has been the main federal agency funding research on ways to mitigate the harms of smoking. “The United States has a goal of reducing the number of people smoking to 5% by 2030. Right now, we are sitting at around 14% of the population who smoke. We hope this study helps us to meet that 5% goal and save lives.”
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About MUSC
Founded in 1824 in Charleston, MUSC is the oldest medical school in the South as well as the state's only integrated academic health sciences center with a unique charge to serve the state through education, research and patient care. Each year, MUSC educates and trains more than 3,000 students and nearly 800 residents in six colleges: Dental Medicine, Graduate Studies, Health Professions, Medicine, Nursing and Pharmacy. The state's leader in obtaining biomedical research funds, in fiscal year 2019, MUSC set a new high, bringing in more than $284 million. For information on academic programs, visit musc.edu.
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MUSC and its affiliates have collective annual budgets of $3.2 billion. The more than 17,000 MUSC team members include world-class faculty, physicians, specialty providers and scientists who deliver groundbreaking education, research, technology and patient care
About MUSC Hollings Cancer Center
MUSC Hollings Cancer Center is a National Cancer Institute-designated cancer center and the largest academic-based cancer research program in South Carolina. The cancer center comprises more than 100 faculty cancer scientists and 20 academic departments. It has an annual research funding portfolio of more than $44 million and a dedication to reducing the cancer burden in South Carolina. Hollings offers state-of-the-art diagnostic capabilities, therapies and surgical techniques within multidisciplinary clinics that include surgeons, medical oncologists, radiation therapists, radiologists, pathologists, psychologists and other specialists equipped for the full range of cancer care, including more than 200 clinical trials. For more information, visit hollingscancercenter.musc.edu.