E-cigarette users show cancer-linked genetic changes

A USC study in 93 people shows that Electronic Cigarette users develop some of the same cancer-related molecular changes in oral tissue as cigarette smokers, adding to
the growing concern that e-cigarettes aren’t a harmless alternative to
smoking.

The research, published this week in the International Journal of Molecular Sciences, comes amid a mushrooming e-cigarette market and mounting
public health worries.

On a positive note, recent research found vaping is almost twice as effective as other nicotine replacement therapies in helping
smokers quit.

But among adolescents, vaping now surpasses smoking, and there’s evidence that e-cigarette use leads to nicotine addiction and future
smoking in teens.

“The existing data show that e-cig vapor is not merely ‘water vapor’ as some people believe,” said Ahmad Besaratinia, an associate
professor at Keck School of Medicine of USC and the study’s senior author.
“Although the concentrations of most carcinogenic compounds in e-cig products
are much lower than those in cigarette smoke, there is no safe level of exposure
to carcinogens.”u2022eney7485yyWEEEEDD