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Tobacco-Related Cancers

Reducing Tobacco-Related Cancers Across San Francisco
 

The SF CAN Tobacco Teams work to reduce tobacco-related cancers by advancing evidence-based tobacco control policies, expanding access to tobacco cessation services, and developing innovative approaches that help people quit smoking and vaping.


Looking for help quitting smoking or vaping?

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Densely packed hillside homes in a sunny coastal city.

Why Tobacco?

Tobacco use remains one of the leading preventable causes of cancer. Because tobacco contributes to many cancers—including lung, head and neck, bladder, kidney, pancreas, and others—preventing tobacco use and helping people quit can significantly reduce the burden of cancer in San Francisco.

The SF CAN Tobacco Team brings together researchers, clinicians, pharmacists, community organizations, and public health leaders to reduce tobacco-related cancers through policy, community partnerships, and innovative cessation programs.

Bayshore Navigation Center in SF
Embarcardero Navigation Center in SF
Next Door navigation center in SF

Our Current Priorities

Project Homeless Connect sites: Bayshore navigation center, Embarcadero navigation center, and Next Door.

Supporting Tobacco Cessation for People Experiencing Homelessness

The Tobacco 1 Team partners with homeless shelters, pharmacists, healthcare providers, and community organizations to expand access to tobacco cessation services.
 

  • Provides counseling and nicotine replacement therapy through community-based settings.

  • Brings tobacco treatment directly to people experiencing homelessness.

  • Continues expanding community partnerships to increase access to evidence-based tobacco cessation programs throughout San Francisco.

Maya Vijayaraghavan, MD, MAS Tobacco 1 Co-Lead

Maya Vijayaraghavan, MD, MAS

Tobacco 1 Co-Lead

​Professor of Medicine, UCSF

Dorie Apollonio, PhD, MPP   Tobacco 1 Co-Lead

Dorie Apollonio, PhD, MPP
 
Tobacco 1 Co-Lead

Professor, Clinical Pharmacy, UCSF

Lisa Kroon, PharmD, CDCES, FAPhA   Tobacco 1 Co-Lead 

Lisa Kroon, PharmD, CDCES, FAPhA
 
Tobacco 1 Co-Lead 

Professor, Clinical Pharmacy, UCSF

Partners

  • Five Keys Home Free

  • Bayshore Navigation Center

  • Embarcadero SAFE Navigation Center

  • Next Door Homeless Shelter 

  • Safeway pharmacy

  • San Francisco Health Plan (SFHP)

  • Project Homeless Connect 

  • San Francisco Department of Public Health
     

Helping Young People Quit Vaping

The Tobacco 2 Team developed Quit the Hit, an innovative vaping cessation program that delivers evidence-based support through moderated Instagram group chats.
 

  • Provides adolescents and young adults with peer support, daily education, and guidance from trained counselors.

  • Research has demonstrated improved quit rates compared with traditional quitline approaches.
     

Currently recruiting California adolescents and young adults to participate in the Quit the Hit Study.
 

Join the Quit the Hit Study

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Pamela Ling, MD, MPH  Tobacco 2 Team Lead

Pamela Ling, MD, MPH 

Tobacco 2 Team Lead

Professor of Medicine and Director of the Center for Tobacco Control Research and Education, UCSF 

Quit The Hit logo for tobacco-related cancers prevention

Partners

  • HopeLab

  • Rescue Agency

  • California Department of Education TUPE program

  • Oklahoma TSET

  • South Carolina Department of Health

  • Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota 

Gavin Newsom holding a chart about tobacco-related cancers

Governor Gavin Newsom signing CA Senate Bill 793.

Previous Achievements:

Helping Advance the Menthol Tobacco Sales Ban

One of SF CAN's most significant accomplishments was helping support San Francisco's landmark prohibition on the sale of flavored tobacco products, including menthol cigarettes.

 

Working alongside community organizations, researchers, and public health partners, the Tobacco Team helped build the evidence and community support that contributed to local policy change and later informed California Senate Bill 793.

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Although the menthol policy initiative has completed its work, its impact continues to reduce tobacco-related cancer risk and advance health equity by addressing products disproportionately marketed to Black communities.

Advocates protesting tobacco-related cancers with signs.
Protest against flavored tobacco and menthol cancers.

Partners

  • African American Tobacco Control Leadership Council

  • Breathe California

  • Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids

  • American Lung Association

  • American Heart Association 

  • American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network

  • San Francisco Department of Public Health


Download the latest Breast Cancer Team Update to learn about current projects, partnerships, publications, and recent accomplishments.

Summer 2026 Team Update

Download PDF

Dirt trails on a grassy hillside overlooking a city.

Lung Cancers in San Francisco

There is a steady decline in all groups, although African American people still have substantially higher incidence and mortality rates for lung cancer.

Chart: Declining lung cancer rates in San Francisco County.
Chart: Declining lung cancer mortality rates in San Frandisco County
quitting

Tobacco Cessation Information and Resources

How to stop smoking

Smoking cessation information 

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Many groups and resources are available to help - you don’t have to do it alone.

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Smoking cessation classes in San Francisco:

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Smoking cessation resources in San Francisco:

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