PEAPACK, N.J., Jan. 3 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- A recent laboratory study published in the Journal of Clinical Investigation suggests that nicotine used to help smokers quit may promote lung cancer. However, there is no clinical evidence that nicotine rep

"The study shows that treatment of cells from the airways of humans with nicotine or NNK (a known carcinogen in tobacco smoke) produces changes that may impair the body's defense against cancer producing cells," said Neal L. Benowitz, MD, Professor of Medicine, Psychiatry and Pharmacy, University of California at San Francisco. "However, it is difficult to predict effects of nicotine in humans from effects in isolated cells. The results of this study are important in helping us understand how different chemicals may influence cancer risk, but should not change the way that physicians treat tobacco dependence." Numerous clinical studies have demonstrated that NRT doubles quit rates when compared with placebo or no treatment. As a result, the U.S. Surgeon General recommends that NRT be used as a first-line therapy for smoking cessation for patients without contraindications and that all smokers should consider effective pharmacotherapies such as NRT when initiating a quit attempt. (4) Studies have also shown that the numerous other toxins found in cigarette smoke, not nicotine, are responsible for the majority of the harmful effects of smoking. Tobacco smoke is a complex mixture that contains more than 4,000 chemicals, of which more than 40 are carcinogenic (5). These chemicals are believed to be responsible for the cancers associated with tobacco use (6). Pharmacia's Nicotrol® line of smoking cessation products have been used safely for more than 24 years, helping more than 60 million smokers worldwide break their dependence on nicotine. The company is committed to helping people live longer and healthier lives through its education programs, research, and public health and marketing initiatives, which assist smokers in quitting their tobacco addiction.

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