A novel smoking cessation treatment resulted in a significant improvement in smoking abstinence among survivors of cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN) or cervical cancer at 1 year, but the success trailed off by 18 months, according to research published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology.
Researchers set out to evaluate an adaptation of a smoking cessation program called MAPS: Motivation and Problem Solving, which is billed as a holistic and dynamic approach to facilitating and maintaining behavior change on the basis of social cognitive theory and motivational interviewing.
Women with a history of CIN or cervical cancer who were aged 18 years and older and reported that they were currently smoking (or had a history of smoking) were recruited. A total of 202 participants were recruited, with 194 included for the final data analysis. Eighty-two percent of them remained in the study long enough provide data at 18 months.
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The researchers randomly assigned participants to a standard treatment (control) arm, which consisted of repeated referrals to a tobacco cessation quitline, combination nicotine replacement therapy (patch plus lozenge), and self-help materials, or to the MAPS protocol. The MAPS protocol included all of the standard treatment elements plus 6 proactive telephone counseling sessions within a 12-month period.
The researchers found an association between MAPS engagement and smoking abstinence at 12 months. They noted that participants who completed 4 to 6 sessions had “significantly higher abstinence” (38.3%) than those who completed 0 to 3 sessions (8.5%; P =.009). However, abstinence among the MAPS participants declined to match that of the control group by 18 months.
The researchers suggested that further research investigate the cause of the drop-off in abstinence rates.
“In conclusion, MAPS was dynamically tailored to the specific treatment needs of women with a history of CIN or cervical cancer and was associated with more than a two-fold increase in abstinence at 12 months compared with a quitline control condition,” the researchers wrote. “This effect was no longer significant at 18 months, suggesting that the efficacy of MAPS dissipated as the time from the end of treatment increased. This decline does not appear to have been driven by dropout, as retention was high, which signals motivation for long-term treatment engagement and highlights the need for sustained intervention.”
Disclosures: Some study authors declared affiliations with biotech, pharmaceutical, and/or device companies. Please see the original reference for a full list of disclosures.
Reference
Vidrine JI, Sutton SK, Wetter DW, et al. Efficacy of a smoking cessation intervention for survivors of cervical intraepithelial neoplasia or cervical cancer: a randomized controlled trial. J Clin Oncol. Published online March 15, 2023. doi:10.1200/JCO.22.01228
