ScienceDaily (June 8, 2008) — Kicking the habit may soon become easier for the nation's 45 million smokers. For the first time, researchers have identified patterns of genes that appear to influence how well individuals respond to specific smoking cessation treatments.
Scientists at Duke University Medical Center, the National Institute of Drug Abuse, University of Pennsylvania and Brown University scanned the entire human genome in a comprehensive search for genes that could determine treatment outcome. They identified several genetic variations that seem to indicate the likelihood of success or failure of nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) and bupropion (Zyban).
"This takes us a big step forward in being able to tailor treatment to individual smokers to provide the therapies that are most likely to benefit them," explains Jed Rose, Ph.D., director of Duke's Center for Nicotine and Smoking Cessation Research and one of the study's authors. "In a few years, a simple blood test may provide physicians with enough information to recommend one treatment over another."
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