Replacing tobacco with electronic cigarettes is associated with an increased risk of lung cancer, regardless of the duration of cessation.
- Former smokers who vape have an increased risk of developing lung cancer and dying from it.
- The observation is similar regardless of the duration of the shutdown.
- For the WHO, vaping should not be considered as a cessation tool.
Tobacco is responsible for eight out of ten lung cancers in France. After five years of stopping, the risk of lung cancer is almost halved. But what happens when electronic cigarettes replace cigarettes? Researchers from different universities in South Korea answered this question, in a study presented at the American Thoracic Society 2024 Conference, in San Diego, United States. Based on their findings, former smokers who use e-cigarettes or vaping devices may be at higher risk of lung cancer than those who do not vape.
Electronic cigarette: a use that is not without risk
“This is the first large-scale population-based study demonstrating increased risk of lung cancer in e-cigarette users after quitting smoking“, warns Yeon Wook Kim, assistant professor of pulmonary and critical care medicine at Bundang Hospital of Seoul National University. In recent years, the use of e-cigarettes has increased sharply, especially among people wanting to quit smoking. smoking A press release from the.World Organization of Health reminds that “data indicates that these products are not safe and are harmful to health”. “However, it is too early to have a precise idea of the long-term consequences of the use of these products or exposure to these products, warned the WHO. Although their long-term effects on health are not fully known, we do know that these products generate toxic substances, some of which cause cancer and others increase the risk of heart or lung problems..”
Stopping smoking and vaping: an increased risk of lung cancer
In their work, South Korean researchers worked on the medical data of more than 4 million people with a history of smoking. They found that 53,354 people developed lung cancer and 6,351 died from it. “Ex-cigarette smokers who had stopped smoking for five years or more and used e-cigarettes had a greater risk of lung cancer-related death than ex-smokers who had stopped smoking for five years or more and ‘had not used electronic cigarettes’, they observe. The finding was similar among smokers who had stopped smoking less than five years ago and used electronic cigarettes. In a second part of the study, the scientists looked only at patients aged 50 to 80, and they established the same conclusions. “Our results indicate that during smoking cessation interventions to reduce lung cancer risk, the potential harms of using e-cigarettes as an alternative to smoking should be considered.“, concludes Dr. Kim.
Stop smoking: WHO recommends against electronic cigarettes
For’World Health Organization, the electronic cigarette should not be perceived as a cessation tool. “The data available to date on the use of electronic nicotine inhalers as cessation aids is inconclusive, she says. It is not possible to clearly determine the potential of electronic nicotine delivery devices as a cessation aid in the population, in part due to the diversity of products and the low degree of certainty of many studies.” According to the Organization, public authorities must “generalize policies and interventions whose effectiveness is proven”such as advice given by health professionals, telephone help services and nicotine substitutes.
