Are you a vaper? If yes, then a recent study holds profound significance for you, as vaping is expected to cause oral and lung cancer, sparking serious health concerns.
The study urged regulators to immediately act instead of waiting for decades for a definitive level of risk.
For the study, cancer researchers led by the University of New South Wales in Sydney assessed reviews of evidence from animal studies, human case reports and laboratory research published between 2017 and 2025, in one of the most detailed assessments to date of whether nicotine e-cigarettes could cause cancer.
Co-author Adjunct Prof Bernard Stewart stated, early warning signs in the body are strongly tied to cancer risk, including DNA damage and inflammation, as per research published in the journal Carcinogenesis.
Stewart stated, “There is no doubt that the cells and tissues of the oral cavity, the mouth and the lungs are altered by inhalation from e-cigarettes.”
The review included reports from dentists who found oral cancer in individuals who never smoked or vaped.
For the study, scientists exposed mice to e-cigarette vapour who developed lung tumours at a significantly higher rate than unexposed mice.
Though these findings may differ in humans.
“On the basis of all of that knowledge … we determined e-cigarettes are likely to cause lung cancer and oral cancer, though we cannot say how great that burden will be,” he said.
Lead author of the study, epidemiologist Associate Prof Freddy Sitas, said it included 100 years of evidence before the US Surgeon General found the adverse effect of smoking, highlighting its impact on “oral cancer.”
Calvin Cochran, a research fellow at the University of Otago’s Department of Public Health in New Zealand, said nearly 8,000 studies were examined to reach the conclusion, despite earlier warning signs that were usually ignored, including by doctors, stating, “We risk repeating that same fate with vaping if we don’t take emerging research and warning signs seriously.”
“Every study like this should be considered seriously by policymakers, governments and health organisations. There is likely going to be no planting the flag moment where we can conclusively say vaping causes x,y,z types of cancer. That is years and most probably decades away,” Cochran added.
Is vaping safer than smoking?
“We’ve always assumed that vapes are safer than cigarettes, but you know, what we’re showing is that they might not be safe after all. We have no conclusive way in which to get people off the vapes,” Sitas said.
“It’s not an alternative to smoking … It’s not an alternative to anything in the context of being safer, it is dangerous, and that’s the message,” he said.
Prof Stephen Duffy, from Queen Mary University London, stated, “vaping does not involve exposure to the combustion products in smoking which have massive carcinogenic effects”.
“Vaping is not a safe alternative to smoking for nonsmokers.
