The Cancer Center Cessation Initiative (C3I), coordinated by the University of Wisconsin, has now helped more than 100,000 cancer patients to address their tobacco use via the 52 participating NCI-designated cancer centers.
C3I is a Cancer Moonshot initiative funded by the National Cancer Institute (NCI).

“I want to thank the Principal Investigators of the C3I University of Wisconsin Coordinating Center, first Dr. Betsy Rolland and now Dr. Danielle McCarthy, for their leadership of C3I,” said UW-CTRI Director Dr. Michael Fiore.
“I also want to thank the two superb coordinating center staff members: Mara Minion and Jennifer Bird. The consortium of 52 NCI-designated cancer centers remains remarkably vibrant and engaged in working together to reduce smoking and death among cancer patients. On behalf of all of us at the Coordinating Center, thank you for the privilege of leading C3I.”
The 52 NCI-designated cancer centers received supplements to their P30 grants to implement smoking cessation programs that would identify the smoking status of all patients visiting their cancer center and offer those who smoked evidence-based cessation treatment. As part of these supplements, the funded cancer centers reported biannually to the University of Wisconsin Coordinating Center regarding the implementation, reach, and effectiveness of their programs. The coordinating center has harmonized these data and computed the total number of patients treated at participating centers.
While the 52 cancer centers no longer receive funding from C3I, most have continued to participate in the initiative, including providing updated treatment utilization and outcome data, as part of an active consortium managed by the Coordinating Center. In addition to treating more than 100,000 cancer patients, here are some other milestones achieved by C3I:
- Generated at least 79 publications through the initiative.
- Reduced disparities, including higher rates of treatment among African American patients and those eligible for Medicaid.
- Enhanced assessment of tobacco screening rates and smoking prevalence across participating NCI-Designated Cancer Centers.
- Secured an R01 grant to evaluate sustainability (Sustainability of Tobacco Cessation Programs at NCI-Designated Cancer Centers, Dr. Ramzi Salloum at the University of Florida).
- Continued activities of a vibrant Coordinating Center with support from the Division of Cancer Control and Population Sciences.
- Supported the Commission on Cancer (CoC) in its efforts to share lessons from C3I with 1,500 community cancer clinics across the US that treats 70 percent of cancer cases in America.
- Developed an online tool called the Implementation Roadmap for tobacco treatment in cancer care.
