Study compares smoking cessation therapies

Twelve weeks of treatment with nicotine patch, varenicline, or combination nicotine replacement therapy (C-NRT) produced no significant differences in confirmed smoking abstinence at 26 weeks among adults trying to quit smoking, a new study shows. Researchers from the University of Wisconsin randomized more than 1,000 smokers to one of three 12-week open-label smoking cessation pharmacotherapy groups: nicotine patch only, varenicline only, and C-NRT (nicotine patch plus nicotine lozenge). In addition, six counseling sessions were provided.