Switching from cigarettes to vapes increased the risk of lung cancer
Korean scientists have concluded that those who start vaping after quitting traditional tobacco smoking have a higher risk of developing lung cancer than those who do not. The sample consisted of more than four million people.
E-cigarettes are often used as an alternative to tobacco smoking or as a means to kick the habit. There is a perception that vapes are less harmful than regular cigarettes. To answer the question whether this is true, there are many studies with rather contradictory results.
The health effects of e-cigarettes depend strongly on the characteristics of the device, and also on the individual characteristics of the vaper (how often he uses e-cigarettes, how long the puff lasts and so on). Difficulties in understanding the scale of the disaster are related to the novelty of the product, the lack of long-term representative studies and the variety of vape models.
E-cigarettes and heating elements contain carbonyl compounds (e.g. formaldehyde, acetaldehyde, acrolein and diacetyl) as well as metals (chromium, nickel, lead) that are toxic to the body. These substances are considered carcinogenic. It is true that the same toxins are present in regular cigarettes.
Some studies show that vaping affects the protective barriers of the lungs, provokes oxidative stress and increases blood pressure, provoking the development of cardiovascular and cancer diseases, as well as negative consequences for reproductive health. On the other hand, according to a number of scientific papers, e-cigarettes are less harmful to the body than conventional cigarettes, so some manufacturers promote vapes as a supposedly safe alternative to traditional smoking. However, the effectiveness of vaping in smoking cessation and, most importantly, its health safety are not sufficiently studied.
Scientists from Seoul National University (Korea) have filled a significant gap in this issue. The results of the study were presented at the international conference ATS 2024 of the American Thoracic Society. Specialists evaluated data from 4,329,288 people with a history of traditional smoking. The information was taken from the materials of the National Medical Screening Programme of the Republic of Korea, obtained in two time periods: in 2012-2014 and in 2018.
Researchers divided the participants into six groups according to smoking history and change in habits. The researchers applied statistical analysis to assess the risk of developing lung cancer and dying from it.
It turned out that 53,354 people developed lung oncopathology and 6,351 participants died from the disease. Former smokers who quit smoking five or more years ago and used e-cigarettes were at greater risk of developing cancer compared to those who did not vape. Those who quit smoking less than five years ago and vaping, on the other hand, had a greater risk of developing this cancer and mortality from it than those who did not smoke e-cigarettes.
Among other things, the study authors conducted a stratified analysis and examined data on people aged 50 to 80 with a smoking history of 20 years or more. Former smokers who kicked the habit five or more years ago and vaped were also more likely to get lung cancer and die from it than those who did not use e-cigarettes.
"This is the first large population-based study to demonstrate an increased risk of lung cancer in e-cigarette users after smoking cessation," said one of the study's authors, Yong-wook Kim, M.D., assistant professor of medicine and associate professor in the Department of Pulmonology and Critical Care Medicine at Bundang Hospital, Seoul National University.
Thus, the assumption that switching to vapes leads to a reduced risk of lung cancer is still hanging in the air - it seems that only complete cessation of tobacco use can reliably produce such an effect.