Review Finds Vaping Likely Causes Lung, Oral Cancers

A comprehensive scientific review led by Australian researchers has concluded that nicotine-based e-cigarettes, or vaping devices, are likely to cause lung and oral cancers, independent of traditional tobacco smoking. The study, published this week in the journal Carcinogenesis, synthesizes evidence from more than 100 investigations since 2017, marking one of the most thorough assessments to date of vaping's carcinogenic risks.

The interdisciplinary team, headed by Professor Bernard Stewart, an adjunct professor at the University of New South Wales, drew on human biomarker studies, animal experiments, and laboratory analyses of e-cigarette aerosols. These sources revealed the presence of harmful substances, including volatile organic compounds, heavy metals like nickel, formaldehyde, acrolein, and cytotoxic flavoring agents derived from nicotine. Such chemicals were shown to induce DNA damage, oxidative stress, inflammation, and disruptions to cellular pathways that lead to malignant transformations in lung and oral tissues.

Human studies highlighted biomarkers of harm, such as DNA strand breaks and inflammatory responses in the blood, urine, and tissues of vapers. Animal...