New research shows that a nicotine vaccine can be effective in helping people quit smoking, the Associated Press reported Nov. 7.

Research presented at a recent American Heart Association conference showed that  15 percent of patients given the vaccine were able to quit smoking for a year, compared to 6 percent of those receiving placebos. That makes the success rate of the vaccine comparable to other smoking-cessation products.

Frank Vocci, director of medication development at the National Institute on Drug Abuse, said the NicVAX vaccine, which blocks the nicotine receptors in the brain, "clearly shows promise."

The 301 long-term smokers in the study received five shots each of the vaccine over a six-month period. However, while the vaccine group did better than the placebo group, the dropout rate among the vaccine group was more than twice that of the placebo group.