Vaping may raise cancer risk because of damage to DNA, says study
The report said that e-cigarette users “might have a higher risk than non-smokers” of bladder and lung cancer and heart disease
Vaping may raise the risk of cancer because it leads to DNA damage, even though it contains fewer carcinogens than tobacco smoke, a US study has found.
In studies on lab mice, those exposed to e-cigarette smoke “had higher levels of DNA damage in the heart, lungs, and bladder, compared with control mice exposed to filtered air,” said
Similar effects were seen when human lung and bladder cells were exposed to nicotine and nicotine-derived nitrosamine ketone (NNK), a carcinogenic nicotine derivative.
These exposed cells ere more likely to mutate and become cancerous than control cells.
“Thus, although e-cigarette smoke has fewer carcinogens than tobacco smoke, E-cigarette smokers might have a higher risk than non-smokers of developing lung and bladder cancers and heart diseases,” said the study, led by Moon-shong Tang of the Institute of Environmental Medicine at New York University.
The report in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences did not compare the cancer-causing potential of traditional cigarettes to e-cigarettes.