There are a variety of products on the market to help people quit smoking. From gums to medications like Zyban, smokers have options when it comes time to kick the habit. But what if doctors could tell what treatment would work best for you? A new study shows doctors may be able to do just that in the future. By examining a person’s genes, researchers believe they can tell if a person will respond well to medications.
The study
“Smokers whose genetic makeup puts them at the greatest risk for heavy smoking, nicotine addiction and problems kicking the habit also appear to be the same people who respond most robustly to pharmacologic therapy for smoking cessation,” says senior investigator Laura Jean Bierut, MD, professor of psychiatry. “Our research suggests that a person’s genetic makeup can help us better predict who is most likely to respond to drug therapy so we can make sure those individuals are treated with medication in addition to counseling or other interventions.”
“People with the high-risk genetic markers smoked an average of two years longer than those without these high-risk genes, and they were less likely to quit smoking without medication,” says first author Li-Shiun Chen, MD, assistant professor of psychiatry at Washington University. “The same gene variants can predict a person’s response to smoking-cessation medication, and those with the high-risk genes are more likely to respond to the medication.”
The future
Researchers from Washington University believe with continued work these preliminary findings could advance treatment for smokers.
“This is an actionable genetic finding,” Chen says. “Scientific journals publish genetic findings every day, but this one is actionable because treatment could be based on a person’s genetic makeup. I think this study is moving us closer to personalized medicine, which is where we want to go.”
