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Nicotine abstinence genotyping: assessing the impact on smoking cessation clinical trials

The Pharmacogenomics Journal volume 9, pages 111–115 (2009)Cite this article

Abstract

Twin studies document substantial heritability for successful abstinence from smoking. A genome-wide association study has identified markers whose allele frequencies differ with nominal P<0.005 in nicotine-dependent clinical trial participants who were successful vs unsuccessful in abstaining from smoking; many of these results are also supported by data from two additional samples. More study is required to precisely determine the variance in quitting success that can be accounted for by the single-nucleotide polymorphisms that are currently identified and to precisely classify individuals who may display varying degrees of genetic vs environmental effects into quitters or nonquitters. However, the data at hand do allow us to model the effects of genotypic stratification in smoking cessation trials. We identify relationships between the costs of identifying and genotyping prospective trial participants vs the costs of performing the clinical trials. We quantitate the increasing savings that result from genetically stratified designs as recruiting/genotyping costs go down and trial costs increase. This model helps to define the circumstances in which genetically stratified designs may enhance power and reduce costs for smoking cessation clinical trials.

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Acknowledgements

We acknowledge the support given by the NIH IRP (NIDA), DHSS, unrestricted support for studies of adult smoking cessation to the Duke Center for Nicotine and Smoking Cessation Research from Philip Morris USA Inc. and advice on the article and statistical approaches from Dr Greg Samsa.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Molecular Neurobiology Branch, NIH-IRP, NIDA, Baltimore, MD, USA

    G R Uhl, T Drgon & C Johnson

  2. Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Center for Nicotine and Smoking Cessation Research, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA

    J E Rose

Authors
  1. G R Uhl
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  2. T Drgon
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  3. C Johnson
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  4. J E Rose
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to G R Uhl.

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None declared.

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Uhl, G., Drgon, T., Johnson, C. et al. Nicotine abstinence genotyping: assessing the impact on smoking cessation clinical trials. Pharmacogenomics J 9, 111–115 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1038/tpj.2008.10

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