Can t teach an old anti-smoking drug new tricks

In keeping with the unimpressive success rate of conventional smoking cessation aids, cytosine, an anti-smoking drug first marketed in 1964, has only an 8.4 percent success rate among smokers, according to the first large modern study of the drug published in the New England Journal of Medicine. Researchers in Poland analyzed data from 740 volunteers who were accustomed to smoking 10 or more cigarettes a day. They found that, compared to a placebo, those who were given cytosine for 25 days were about 3.5 times as likely to remain smoke-free for a year.

The new study confirmed that the drug, which is sold in Central and Eastern Europe as Tabex but is not approved in the U.S., Japan, or Western Europe, works about as well as nicotine patches and similar anti-smoking devices. However, because it is significantly less expensive than other cessation aids, cytosine may be more accessible to people in poorer countries, where tobacco companies have made the most recent inroads in recruiting new smokers.

ACSH's Dr. Josh Bloom was not impressed with the 8.4 percent quit-rate, however. This is considered a success? he wonders.