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Can a pill and brain zaps help you quit smoking for good?

NCT ID NCT07145866

What the study statuses mean

This study's is highlighted.

Recruitment status, easiest to join first

Recruiting now This study
This trial is taking on new participants right now.
Not yet recruiting
Registered, but not yet taking participants.
By invitation only
Not open to general applications. Only people the study team invites can take part.
Paused
Paused for now. It may or may not start again.
Ongoing
Running, but no longer taking on new participants.
Completed
The trial has finished. Results may not be published yet.
Stopped early
Stopped early, before it reached the end. That can be for many reasons, including safety.
Cancelled
Cancelled before anyone took part.

Expanded access (not trials)

Expanded access
Not a trial. This treatment can be requested outside a study, case by case, for people who qualify.
Expanded access (paused)
Not a trial. The treatment can normally be requested outside a study, but is unavailable right now.
Expanded access (ended)
Not a trial. The treatment could once be requested outside a study, but no longer can.
Approved
The treatment has been approved, so it is available normally rather than through this programme.

When the status isn't known

Details not published
The full record has not been published yet, so there is little to show here.
Status unknown
This status has not been confirmed recently, so it may be out of date.

First seen Jun 27, 2026 · Last updated Sep 16, 2026 · Updated 4 times

Summary

This study tests whether adding accelerated transcranial magnetic stimulation (aTMS) to the standard smoking-cessation drug varenicline helps adults quit nicotine products like cigarettes and vapes. Thirty participants will take varenicline daily for 12 weeks and receive either real or sham aTMS over 5 consecutive days. Researchers will track abstinence through saliva tests and brain scans to see if the combination reduces cravings and improves quit rates.

What this could mean

Our plain-language read of the trial. This is informational only, not medical advice or a prediction.

Active substance
varenicline and transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS)
What this could lead to
If it works, this could point toward a more effective way to help people quit smoking or vaping by combining medication with brain stimulation.
What could go wrong
This is a small early-phase trial with only 30 people, so results may not apply to everyone. The TMS is given over just 5 days, and the sham group may also improve, making it hard to see a clear benefit.

This is an AI summary of the original study and may miss details. Read our disclaimer.

Study facts

What this study's own registry entry says, in plain language.

Phase

Phase 4

Runs after approval, following long-term safety and how well the treatment works in everyday use.

Participants

About 30 people

The number the study aims to enrol. It can still change while the study runs.

Started

Jul 2026

Expected to finish

Dec 2028

An estimate. End dates often move.

Lead sponsor

Other sponsor

The registry's catch-all category, for sponsors it does not file as a company, a government agency, or a research network.

Who can take part

This study's own entry requirements. Only the study team can say for certain whether you qualify.

Ages

18 to 65 years

Sex

Anyone

Healthy volunteers

Not accepted

This study is not open to healthy volunteers. The entry requirements below say who it is open to.

Show the full entry requirements

Copied word for word from the study's registry entry, so the wording is the study team's rather than ours.

Inclusion Criteria: * Age ≥ 18 and ≤65; * The ability to give written, informed consent; * Fluency in English; * Reported interest in quitting nicotine vaping or smoking within the next month; * Nicotine dependence, as defined by a score of ≥4 on the 10-question E-cigarette Dependence Inventory (ECDI) or Fagerström Test for Nicotine Dependence (FTND); * Smoke or vape nicotine daily for at least the past 90 days, as confirmed by self-report and timeline follow-back methods; * Saliva cotinine \>30ng/mL; Exclusion Criteria: * Pregnancy or breastfeeding; * Use of smoking cessation pharmacotherapy in the past month; * Unwilling to abstain during the study from using smoking cessation aids other than those provided by the study; * Prior adverse drug reaction to varenicline; * Contraindication to D-Cycloserine (including allergy to D-Cycloserine, significant renal impairment or known kidney disease, pregnancy) * Receiving or planning to receive other TMS treatments or investigational drugs during course of participation * Contraindications to TMS (including seizures, metallic implants, severe existing tinnitus, etc.); * Contraindications to MRI (including presence of a cardiac pacemaker or pacemaker wires, metallic particles in the body, vascular clips in the head or previous neurosurgery, prosthetic heart valves, claustrophobia); * Inpatient psychiatric hospitalization or suicide attempts in the past six months, or recent active suicidal ideation or suicidal behavior identified at enrollment or baseline visits; * History of seizures and/or history of TBI subtypes associated with elevated seizure risk (e.g. penetrating injury and intraparenchymal hemorrhage) * History of unstable neurological illness or major medical illness, such as epilepsy or renal impairment, in the past six months, unless clearly resolved; * In the opinion of the investigators, evidence of active problem substance use severe enough to compromise ability to safely participate; * In the opinion of the investigators, unable to safely participate in this study and/or provide reliable data (e.g., claustrophobia, unable to tolerate TMS or MRI procedures, etc.).

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Conditions

The condition(s) this trial relates to.

Behavior, Addictive nicotine dependence Smoking Smoking Cessation Vaping

As listed by the trial registrant

The condition terms exactly as the trial's registrant entered them.

How to take part

Only the study team decides who joins. These are the ways to reach them.

  1. The places running it

    1 site. The list below names each one and where it is.

  2. The official record

    ClinicalTrials.gov lists the study team's own contact details, including names and phone numbers. We don't republish those.

    Open the record ↗

  3. A doctor treating you

    A doctor who knows your case can contact a study site on your behalf, and can tell you whether this study is worth pursuing at all.

Contacts and locations

Locations

  • Massachusetts General Hospital

    RECRUITING

    Boston, Massachusetts, 02114, United States

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