Lung CancerNCT02732834
Clinician-Patient Communication in Lung Cancer Care
An observational study of Lung Cancer, run by Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center at 7 sites in United States.
Trial summary
The purpose of this study is to better understand communication between patients with lung cancer and their clinicians. The investigators are also interested in patient's perceptions of the quality of communication with his/her clinician and how these perceptions may impact patient outcomes. Read more about this study
- Who is it for?
- Ages 18 years and olderHealthy volunteers can take part
- Conditions the study is for
- Lung Cancer
- What is being tested?
- Questionnaire, Patient Interview and Audio recordings of clinical consultations
- Type of treatment
- Lifestyle or therapy programme
- How many people
- 294 participants
- Where
- 7 sitesUnited States
- Study dates
- Jan 2016to Jan 2027
- Phase
- Observational
- Are there results?
- Not yet: the study is under way
Key requirements
Who can take part, as listed by the sponsor. Only the study team can confirm whether you are eligible, so take this list to your doctor.
- Ages 18 years and older
- All sexes
- Healthy volunteers accepted
- Adult, Older adult
Study population: MSK thoracic clinic, pulmonary clinic
Who may be able to join
- Patients with confirmed lung cancer diagnosis or mass suspicious of lung cancer as per clinician report and/or EMR
- Lung cancer diagnosis or suspicious mass as per clinician report/EMR within 0-6 months of consent or within no more than three visits to participating clinician
- Participating clinician approves his/her patient's participation in this study per clinician report.
- Former (at least 100 cigarettes in lifetime and quit more than 30 days prior to enrollment) or current smoker (lifetime smoker who reports cigarette smoking within the past 30 days) as per self report or EMR;
- English fluency (determined through EMR or clinician report), as we do not have the resources to translate the consultations from other languages or the surveys to other languages;
- Patients must be 18 years old or older
Show all 9Show fewer
- Clinician Inclusion Criteria:
- An MSK attending physician (radiologists, medical oncologists, and surgeons), Nurse Practitioner (NP), Physician Assistant (PA), Fellow, Resident or Clinical Nurse Specialist (CNS) or Clinical Nurse (RN) who is a member of the Thoracic Disease Management Team or Pulmonary Service currently treating thoracic patients at MSK as per self report
- Clinical has individual clinic consultations to discuss adult health assessment and/or smoking history with the target patient population: English-speaking, at least 18 years of age, has a suspicious lung mass or confirmed diagnosis, is a former/current smoker, has had no more than 3 visits with clinician or had diagnosis in past 6 months as per self-report.
Who cannot join
- Clinician Exclusion Criteria
- N/A
Trial locations and contacts
7 sites in 1 country.
7 sites in 1 country
United States7 sites
Memorial Sloan Kettering Basking Ridge (Consent and follow-up only)
Basking Ridge, New Jersey
Memorial Sloan Kettering Commack (Consent and follow-up only)
Commack, New York, 11725
Memorial Sloan Kettering Westchester (Consent and follow-up only)
Harrison, New York, 10604
Memorial Sloan Kettering Monmouth (Consent and follow-up only)
Middletown, New Jersey, 07748
Memorial Sloan Kettering Bergen (Consent and follow-up only)
Montvale, New Jersey, 07645
Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
New York, New York, 10065
Memorial Sloan Kettering Nassau (Consent and Follow-Up only)
Uniondale, New York, 11553
About this study
The purpose of this study is to better understand communication between patients with lung cancer and their clinicians. The investigators are also interested in patient's perceptions of the quality of communication with his/her clinician and how these perceptions may impact patient outcomes. The clinician participating in this study and has given us permission to approach his/her eligible patients for study participation.
- Conditions
- Lung Cancer
- Being tested
- Questionnaire, Patient Interview, Audio recordings of clinical consultations, 2-hour empathic communication skills training, Standardized Patient Assessments
- Keywords
- Clinician-Patient Communication, 16-001
- Medical subject headings
- Lung Neoplasms
What participants receive
What participants receive. In a randomised study each person is assigned to one group by chance.
QuestionnaireBehavioural
patients will fill out a questionnaire about their perceived stigma, satisfaction with communication, and psychological distress.
Patient InterviewBehavioural
Then they will participate in a brief in-person interview about their perceived stigma during the clinical consultation
Audio recordings of clinical consultationsBehavioural
QuestionnaireBehavioural
Patients will fill out a questionnaire about their perceived stigma and satisfaction with their clinician's communication.
2-hour empathic communication skills trainingBehavioural
2-hour empathic communication skills training
Standardized Patient AssessmentsBehavioural
pre-training SPA, post-training SPA
Training evaluationBehavioural
Clinicians will complete an evaluation assessing the empathic communication training module.
Patient recruitmentBehavioural
6 of the clinician's patients (3 pre-training, 3 post-training) will be recruited to complete brief surveys assessing clinician communication
| Study group | Role | What they receive |
|---|---|---|
| Part 1: Lung patients | Following informed consent, the patient will complete the patient questionnaire, either electronically, by phone, or on paper. Patients who prefer to complete the survey electronically will be emailed a link to access to a secure electronic (web-based) version of the study assessment which they will have access to from any computer. We will include an introductory email with the survey link. Will audio-record actual patient-physician clinical consultations with lung cancer patients at Memorial Sloan Kettering (MSK). Completing the survey will take about 15 minutes. Answer a few open-ended questions about the consultation with the doctor. We will audio record your answers to these questions. This will take about 15 minutes. Receives: Behavioral: Questionnaire; Behavioral: Patient Interview; Behavioral: Audio recordings of clinical consultations | |
| Part 1: Thoracic physicians and clinicians | Will have 5 visits/consultations with their patients audio recorded. Receives: Behavioral: Audio recordings of clinical consultations | |
| Part 2: Lung patients | Following informed consent, the patient will complete the patient questionnaire, either electronically, by phone, or on paper. Patients who prefer to complete the survey electronically will be emailed a link to access to a secure electronic (web-based) version of the study assessment which they will have access to from any computer. Completing the survey will take about 15 minutes. Receives: Behavioral: Questionnaire | |
| Part 2: Thoracic and pulmonary clinicians | Following informed consent, clinicians will be scheduled to participate in a 2 hour training on empathic communication with lung cancer patients. Surveys will be collected from 6 patients (3 pre-training, 3 post-training). Clinicians will complete one standardized patient assessment before training (pre-SPA) and one assessment after training (post-SPA). These are 12-minute video-recorded clinic consultations with standardized patients (trained actors). Receives: Behavioral: 2-hour empathic communication skills training; Behavioral: Standardized Patient Assessments; Behavioral: Training evaluation; Behavioral: Patient recruitment |
What is being measured
The primary outcome is the main question the study is designed to answer.
Part 1: Systematic coding of clinical encounters and the perceived stigma within the clinical consultation
interview along with patient-reported data from the post-consultation questionnaire will be used.
Measured: 1 year
Part 1: All variables (stigma, satisfaction with communication, psychological distress)
will be measured via post-consultation questionnaires
Measured: 1 year
Part 2: We will pilot test the effectiveness of the empathic communication skills training module
for clinicians: physicians, nurse practitioners, physician assistants, fellows, residents, clinical nurses, and clinical nurse specialists by using the communication skills training module
Measured: 1 year
Secondary outcomes (1)
# of patients referred to MSK's Tobacco Treatment Program (TTP)
will be determined via review of the medical record and/or Tobacco Treatment Program database
Measured: 1 year
Timeline
From the start of the study to its completion; the mark is today. Estimated dates are the sponsor’s plan.
- First posted11 Apr 2016 (estimated)
- Study startJan 2016
- Primary completionJan 2027 (estimated)
- Study completionJan 2027 (estimated)
Resources
- Official record on ClinicalTrials.govThe registry entry this page is built from, with its full change history.
- Other trials for Lung CancerStudies of the same condition, open and under way.
- More trials run by Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer CenterThe sponsor's other registered studies.
- What the trial phases meanHow a treatment moves from first tests in people to approval.
More details
For doctors and researchers: how the study is designed, who runs it, and its registry IDs.
Study design
- Study type
- Observational
- Observational model
- Cohort
- Time perspective
- Cross-sectional
- Enrolment
- 294 participants (actual)
Sponsor and investigators
- Lead sponsor
- Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
- Sponsor type
- University, hospital or other
- Collaborators
- Hamad Medical Corporation, University of Arizona, Weill Medical College of Cornell University, University of Florida
- Responsible party
- Sponsor
- Investigators
- Jamie Ostroff, PhD, Principal investigator, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
IDs, dates and publications
- ClinicalTrials.gov ID
- NCT02732834
- Sponsor's protocol ID
- 16-001
- Status last verified
- Feb 2026
- First submitted
- 14 Mar 2016
- Last updated
- 5 Feb 2026
- Results posted
- No
Study at a glance
From the registry record, last updated by the sponsor on 5 Feb 2026. Recruitment status is as the sponsor reported it: confirm with the study team.
- Official title
- Clinician-Patient Communication in Lung Cancer Care
- ClinicalTrials.gov ID
- NCT02732834
- Acronym / sponsor ID
- 16-001
- Conditions
- Lung Cancer
- Keywords
- Clinician-Patient Communication, 16-001
- Study type
- Observational
- Recruitment status
- Active, not recruiting
- Enrolment
- 294 participants (actual)
- Lead sponsor
- Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer CenterUniversity, hospital or other
- Collaborators
- Hamad Medical Corporation, University of Arizona, Weill Medical College of Cornell University, University of Florida
- Study start
- Jan 2016 (actual)
- Primary completion
- Jan 2027 (estimated)
- Study completion
- Jan 2027 (estimated)
- First posted
- 11 Apr 2016 (estimated)
- Results
- Not posted in the source record
Clinical summary
The research question as the sponsor registered it. This describes what the study plans to test, not what it found.
The purpose of this study is to better understand communication between patients with lung cancer and their clinicians. The investigators are also interested in patient's perceptions of the quality of communication with his/her clinician and how these perceptions may impact patient outcomes. The clinician participating in this study and has given us permission to approach his/her eligible patients for study participation.
Study design
- Observational model
- Cohort
- Time perspective
- Cross-sectional
- Number of arms
- 4
| Arm | Type | Receives |
|---|---|---|
| Part 1: Lung patients | – | Behavioral: Questionnaire, Behavioral: Patient Interview, Behavioral: Audio recordings of clinical consultationsFollowing informed consent, the patient will complete the patient questionnaire, either electronically, by phone, or on paper. Patients who prefer to complete the survey electronically will be emailed a link to access to a secure electronic (web-based) version of the study assessment which they will have access to from any computer. We will include an introductory email with the survey link. Will audio-record actual patient-physician clinical consultations with lung cancer patients at Memorial Sloan Kettering (MSK). Completing the survey will take about 15 minutes. Answer a few open-ended questions about the consultation with the doctor. We will audio record your answers to these questions. This will take about 15 minutes. |
| Part 1: Thoracic physicians and clinicians | – | Behavioral: Audio recordings of clinical consultationsWill have 5 visits/consultations with their patients audio recorded. |
| Part 2: Lung patients | – | Behavioral: QuestionnaireFollowing informed consent, the patient will complete the patient questionnaire, either electronically, by phone, or on paper. Patients who prefer to complete the survey electronically will be emailed a link to access to a secure electronic (web-based) version of the study assessment which they will have access to from any computer. Completing the survey will take about 15 minutes. |
| Part 2: Thoracic and pulmonary clinicians | – | Behavioral: 2-hour empathic communication skills training, Behavioral: Standardized Patient Assessments, Behavioral: Training evaluation, Behavioral: Patient recruitmentFollowing informed consent, clinicians will be scheduled to participate in a 2 hour training on empathic communication with lung cancer patients. Surveys will be collected from 6 patients (3 pre-training, 3 post-training). Clinicians will complete one standardized patient assessment before training (pre-SPA) and one assessment after training (post-SPA). These are 12-minute video-recorded clinic consultations with standardized patients (trained actors). |
Who may qualify
- Ages
- 18 years and older
- Sex
- All
- Healthy volunteers
- Accepted
- Age groups
- Adult, Older adult
- Study population
- MSK thoracic clinic, pulmonary clinic
Key inclusion criteria (9 listed)
- Patients with confirmed lung cancer diagnosis or mass suspicious of lung cancer as per clinician report and/or EMR
- Lung cancer diagnosis or suspicious mass as per clinician report/EMR within 0-6 months of consent or within no more than three visits to participating clinician
- Participating clinician approves his/her patient's participation in this study per clinician report.
- Former (at least 100 cigarettes in lifetime and quit more than 30 days prior to enrollment) or current smoker (lifetime smoker who reports cigarette smoking within the past 30 days) as per self report or EMR;
- English fluency (determined through EMR or clinician report), as we do not have the resources to translate the consultations from other languages or the surveys to other languages;
Key exclusion criteria (2 listed)
- Clinician Exclusion Criteria
- N/A
Eligibility is decided by the study team after screening; this overview does not establish that a patient qualifies. Full inclusion and exclusion criteria.
Interventions
| Intervention | Type | Arms |
|---|---|---|
| Questionnairepatients will fill out a questionnaire about their perceived stigma, satisfaction with communication, and psychological distress. | Behavioural | Part 1: Lung patients |
| Patient InterviewThen they will participate in a brief in-person interview about their perceived stigma during the clinical consultation | Behavioural | Part 1: Lung patients |
| Audio recordings of clinical consultations | Behavioural | Part 1: Lung patients, Part 1: Thoracic physicians and clinicians |
| QuestionnairePatients will fill out a questionnaire about their perceived stigma and satisfaction with their clinician's communication. | Behavioural | Part 2: Lung patients |
| 2-hour empathic communication skills training2-hour empathic communication skills training | Behavioural | Part 2: Thoracic and pulmonary clinicians |
| Standardized Patient Assessmentspre-training SPA, post-training SPA | Behavioural | Part 2: Thoracic and pulmonary clinicians |
| Training evaluationClinicians will complete an evaluation assessing the empathic communication training module. | Behavioural | Part 2: Thoracic and pulmonary clinicians |
| Patient recruitment6 of the clinician's patients (3 pre-training, 3 post-training) will be recruited to complete brief surveys assessing clinician communication | Behavioural | Part 2: Thoracic and pulmonary clinicians |
Primary outcome
Part 1: Systematic coding of clinical encounters and the perceived stigma within the clinical consultation
Time frame: 1 year
interview along with patient-reported data from the post-consultation questionnaire will be used.
Part 1: All variables (stigma, satisfaction with communication, psychological distress)
Time frame: 1 year
will be measured via post-consultation questionnaires
Part 2: We will pilot test the effectiveness of the empathic communication skills training module
Time frame: 1 year
for clinicians: physicians, nurse practitioners, physician assistants, fellows, residents, clinical nurses, and clinical nurse specialists by using the communication skills training module
1 secondary outcome
# of patients referred to MSK's Tobacco Treatment Program (TTP)
Time frame: 1 year
Results and safety
This study is still under way. Results are not available in the source record yet.
Research links
- Official record on ClinicalTrials.govLast updated by the sponsor 5 Feb 2026.
- Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer CenterLink provided by the sponsor.
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Referral and contact
AzTrials does not enrol participants or take referrals. Contact the study team or a site listed below; they decide who can take part. This study is not recruiting at the moment.
Jamie Ostroff, PhD principal investigator
Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
7 sites in 1 country: see every site and its status.
Questions about this trial
What is this clinical trial studying?
An observational study of Lung Cancer, run by Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center at 7 sites in United States.
The full registered description is in the About this study section and the official record.
Who may be eligible to take part?
The sponsor lists 9 inclusion and 2 exclusion criteria. Eligibility is decided by the study team after screening, so read the full criteria and contact a listed site.
Is this clinical trial currently recruiting?
The record says: under way, not looking for participants, as of the sponsor's last update on 5 Feb 2026. Status can change between updates, so confirm with the study contact before making plans.
Where is the study taking place?
The record lists 7 sites in United States. Whether a site is taking part right now should be confirmed with that site. See every site.
What are the possible benefits and risks?
They depend on the study and the treatment, and no study can promise a benefit. The study team explains the known risks during informed consent, before anyone joins; the record itself does not list them.
Are results available for this study?
This study is still under way. Results are not available in the source record yet.
How can a doctor refer a patient or contact the research team?
The record lists no contact. The official record names the sponsor, who can be asked directly. AzTrials does not enrol participants or take referrals.
What does the primary outcome measure?
Part 1: Systematic coding of clinical encounters and the perceived stigma within the clinical consultation (time frame: 1 year). The study lists 3 primary outcomes in all. It is what the study was designed to measure, not a finding.
Where can I read the original study information?
Does a listing mean the treatment is approved or proven to work?
No. A listing means the study is registered. It does not show that the treatment is safe, works, or is approved by a regulator.
How often is this information updated?
AzTrials copies changed records from ClinicalTrials.gov every night and reloads the whole registry every week. The sponsor last updated this record on 5 Feb 2026.