Smoking: There could be a painless solution on the horizon for nicotine addicts. One in five people given a nicotine vaccine stopped smoking completely for at least six months following vaccination, according to a new study.
"The data clearly suggests that antibodies against nicotine are effective in helping people quit smoking," said Dr Jacques Cornuz of the Vaudois University Hospital Centre in Lausanne, Switzerland at a meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology last weekend.
However, Dr Cornuz added that before larger clinical trials can begin, the developers of the vaccine must find ways "to intensify the immunisation scheme".
"This might mean more injections or higher levels of immunising agent in each dose," he said. He estimated it would take at least three years before new trials could begin.
Dr Luke Clancy, chairman of ASH Ireland, the anti-smoking lobby group and consultant in respiratory medicine at St James's Hospital, Dublin, gave a cautious welcome to the study findings.
"It's important to try all avenues to encourage people to stop smoking and research into vaccines has limited proven value but it offers potential. The question really is to know why people start smoking to begin with."
Norma Cronin, health promotion manager for tobacco control in the Irish Cancer Society, added: "Smoking is very addictive and a nicotine vaccine may offer another opportunity to treat nicotine addiction but it is still in the early stages of research and larger studies are needed. It takes a number of attempts for many smokers to quit successfully and this may be one approach but nicotine replacement therapies have already been proven to double the success rate of quitting."
Smoking is believed to be the cause of 30 per cent of all cancer deaths worldwide, including 95 per cent of deaths from lung cancer. It also plays a role in cancers of the larynx (voicebox), bladder, head and neck.
At least four biotechnology companies are currently testing nicotine vaccines: Cytos Biotechnology in Zurich, Switzerland which developed the vaccine used in the study; Xenova Group in Berkshire, England; Nabi Biopharmaceuticals in Boca Raton, Florida; and US and Prommune in Omaha, Nebraska.
