Lately, vaping became very popular. While many users deem vaping e-cigarettes as a safer and healthier alternative to regular smoking, recent studies disagree with this concept. In the latest research in this field, scientists concluded that vaping nicotine might still cause cancer.
Researchers from New York University (NYU) School of Medicine found that mice exposed to e-cigarette vapor developed lung adenocarcinoma, or lung cancer, along with urothelial bladder hyperplasia.
The new study, published the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), warns that vaping nicotine has the same effects on the lungs as regular smoking. Besides, it might also be a potential bladder carcinogen. However, the tests were conducted only on lab mice, but the scientists consider that it is also applicable to humans.
“While it is well established that tobacco smoke poses a huge threat to human health, the threat ECS poses to humans is not yet known and warrants in-depth investigation,” the study said.
A new study linked vaping to cancer
For their research, the scientists exposed 40 mice to e-cigarette vapor rich in nicotine. After 54 weeks, 9 out of those 40 mice developed lung cancer. Even more, none of the 20 mice in the control group, exposed to vapor without nicotine, developed the disease.
Besides, 23 out of the 40 mice exposed to nicotine-rich vapor developed bladder hyperplasia that can trigger the growth of abnormal tissue in the bladder and, eventually, cancer.
The researchers also said that more studies are required to find out more about the potential link between vaping and lung cancer in humans. As the scientists reported, the mice were exposed to an amount of vapor similar to what a regular vaper inhales in three to six years.
“It takes two decades or more for a life-time smoker to develop lung cancer. If tobacco smoke-induced lung carcinogenesis is a paradigm for e-cigarette carcinogenicity, then it will take at least another decade to have e-cig-related human lung cancer to show up,” said Moon-Shong Tang from the Departments of Environmental Medicine, Medicine, and Pathology.