A study of more than 1,500 cigarette smokers who were not ready to
quit smoking but were willing to cut back on cigarette consumption and
combine their approach with varenicline (Chantix) increased their
long-term success of quitting smoking. The multinational study is published in the February issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.
Jon Ebbert, M.D., associate director for research in the Mayo Clinic Nicotine Dependence Center,
was lead author on the study that reported the effects of the
prescription medication varenicline for increasing smoking abstinence
rates among smokers who wanted to reduce the number of cigarettes they
smoked before trying to quit completely.
“This
study is important because this opens the door to treatment for
approximately 14 million smokers who have no intention of quitting in
the next 30 days but are willing to reduce their smoking rate while
working toward a quit attempt,” says Dr. Ebbert. “In the past, these
smokers may have not received medication therapy, and we want them to
know that different approaches are available.”
The study enrolled
smokers who did not want to quit smoking in the next 30 days, but who
were willing to work toward the goal of quitting in the next three
months. Smokers were randomized to either six months of varenicline or placebo and their continuous smoking abstinence rates were evaluated at six and 12 months.
The researchers found that 760 participants receiving varenicline
were greater than four times more likely to quit than the 750
participants receiving placebo at six months (32.1 percent vs. 6.9
percent) and over two times more likely to quit than participants
receiving a placebo at 12 months (27.0 percent vs. 9.9 percent).
“Smokers should know that varenicline can help them quit smoking if
they want to reduce their smoking prior to completely stopping,” says
Dr. Ebbert. “It’s an effective and safe way to increase long-term
smoking cessation.”
The current research was funded by Pfizer NCT01370356.
Co-authors of the study include John Hughes, M.D., University of
Vermont; Robert West, Ph.D., Health Behaviour Research Centre,
University of London; Stephen Rennard, M.D., University of Nebraska
Medical Center; Cristina Russ, M.D.; Thomas McRae, M.D.; Joan Treadow,
R.N., B.S.N.; Ching-Ray Yu, Ph.D.; Michael Dutro, Pharm.D.;and Peter
Park, Ph.D., all of Pfizer Inc.