Key Points: How we define success in smoking cessation treatment and what we expect from cessation therapies shapes clinical practice. Clinicians and smokers often consider any return to smoking (lapse or relapse) following a period of abstinence as failure of the therapy or the smoker and treatment is discontinued. Judging treatment success or failure by smoking status early in the process may undermine quit attempts that could have been successful with continued treatment. Dr. Gonzales will discus variations in patterns of quitting with varenicline, bupropion and behavioral treatment. Dr. Shiffman will discus quitting patterns with NRT and the importance of how lapses and relapse are defined. Dr. Hatsukami will discus novel quitting patterns with the nicotine vaccine. These presentations will illustrate the need to provide for different pathways for achieving abstinence and new ways of approaching the cessation process.

Learning Objectives: Attendees will: 1) learn new information regarding quitting patterns related to varenicline, bupropion, behavioral, and nicotine vaccine therapies; and NRT; 2) understand how clinical approaches to lapses and relapses can impact cessation outcomes and; 3) be able to translate clinical trial evidence more effectively into “real world” clinical practice settings.

Benefits: Attendees will benefit from a new or increased understanding of the importance of keeping clinicians and smokers actively engaged in completing the treatment process regardless of type of therapy and regardless of any lapses/relapses or failure to achieve abstinence during early treatment.