April 19, 2024

A Safe, Low-Cost, and Effective Smoking Cessation Treatment

The scientists discovered that cytisine, a partial agonist-binding nicotine acetylcholine receptor, is a promising cessation intervention.
A recent research study shows the security and effectiveness of cytisine.
According to a current study published in the Journal of Thoracic Oncology, cytisine might be a reliable and safe smoking cigarettes cessation treatment in lung cancer screening volunteers.
Because the 1960s, Cytisine, a plant-based alkaloid stemmed from Cytisus laburnum, has been authorized for usage in Europe as a cigarette smoking cessation help. It is a selective partial agonist of nicotinic acetylcholine receptors. The existing FDA-approved smoking cessation drugs in the United States are varenicline and bupropion. In order to examine the effectiveness of cytisine, a research study was authorized in the United States by the Food and Drug Administration in 2018.
To figure out whether cytisine is a effective and safe smoking cigarettes cessation treatment throughout low-dose computed tomography (LDCT) screening, scientists led by Dr. Ugo Pastorino, Fondazione IRCCS Istituto Nazionale dei Tumori, in Milan, Italy, established the single-center, randomized controlled trial called Screening and Multiple Intervention on Lung Epidemics (SMILE) research study.

Pastorino and coworkers randomized 869 current smokers– 470 (54%) were appointed to the intervention arm including cytisine, and 399 (46%) were appointed to the control arm. The primary outcome was continuous smoking cigarettes abstaining at 12 months, biochemically confirmed through carbon monoxide gas measurement.
At the 12-month follow-up, the stopped rate was 32.1% (151 participants) in the intervention arm and 7.3% (29 individuals) in the control arm. The adjusted odds ratio (OR) of constant abstinence was 7.2 (95% confidence interval, 4.6 to 11.2). Self-reported unfavorable events occurred more frequently in the intervention arm (399 events amongst 196 individuals) than in the control arm.
” The efficacy and security observed in the SMILE RCT show that cytisine, a very inexpensive medication, is an useful treatment alternative for smoking cessation and a practical technique to enhance LDCT screening results with a possible advantage for all-cause death,” said Dr. Pastorino.
Reference: “Cytisine Therapy Improved Smoking Cessation in the Randomized Screening and Multiple Intervention on Lung Epidemics Lung Cancer Screening Trial” by Ugo Pastorino, MD, Vito Ladisa, PharmD, Sara Trussardo, PharmD, Federica Sabia, MSc, Luigi Rolli, MD, Camilla Valsecchi, MSc, Roberta E. Ledda, MD, Gianluca Milanese, MD, Ph.D., Paola Suatoni, MSc, Mattia Boeri, Ph.D., Gabriella Sozzi, Ph.D., Alfonso Marchianò, MD, Elena Munarini, PsyD, Roberto Boffi, MD, Silvano Gallus, Ph.D. and Giovanni Apolone, MD, 28 July 2022, Journal of Thoracic Oncology.DOI: 10.1016/ j.jtho.2022.07.007.