ZME Science
No Result
View All Result
ZME Science
No Result
View All Result
ZME Science

Home → Health

Mice heavily exposed to e-cig vapor develop lung cancer

The findings suggest that vaping might cause lung cancer.

Tibi PuiubyTibi Puiu
October 8, 2019
in Diseases, Health, News
A A
Share on FacebookShare on TwitterSubmit to Reddit

Smoking cigarettes is responsible for the vast majority of lung cancers in the world. This terrifying prospect has swayed many smokers to switch to e-cigs, which are thought to be benign in comparison to cigarettes. Vaping, however, is relatively new and there is still much we don’t know about the long-term health consequences. A new study on mice suggests that vaping may also cause lung cancer, for instance.

Credit: Pixabay.

Researchers at New York University performed an experiment in which they exposed mice to two types of vapor. One contained nicotine, emulating the kind of vapor inhaled when using e-cigarettes, the other was a vapor that contained two additives commonly found in e-juice, but no nicotine.

Nine out of the 40 mice exposed to the nicotine vapor developed adenocarcinoma, which is the most common type of lung cancer — that’s an incidence rate of 22.5%. Meanwhile, none of the 18 mice exposed to the e-juice vapor developed lung cancer. One of the 18 mice who weren’t exposed to any type of vapor (the control group) got cancer.

There’s one big caveat to this study — the mice were engulfed in vapor for four hours a day for five days a week. This doesn’t come anywhere close to how e-cigs are actually used in the real world, which caused the study to garner a lot of criticism.

Yet, the study’s methods aren’t necessarily flawed. They show that, albeit in a very extreme case, that there is a very strong connection between nicotine vapor exposure and lung cancer. The findings suggest that e-cigs might cause cancer in some situations — at least it’s an area of research worth pursuing very seriously.

The number of vapers has been increasing rapidly — from about seven million in 2011 to 41 million in 2018, globally. The global market is now estimated to be worth $19.3bn – up from $6.9bn just five years ago.

“Tobacco smoke is among the most dangerous environmental agents to which humans are routinely exposed, but the potential of E-cig smoke as a threat to human health is not yet fully understood,” says Moon-shong Tang, a professor at NYU’s Departments of Environmental Medicine, Medicine, and Pathology. “Our study results in mice were not meant to be compared to human disease, but instead argue that E-cig smoke must be more thoroughly studied before it is deemed safe or marketed that way.”

The new study builds upon the team’s previous work, carried out in 2018, which exposed mice and human cells to e-cig vapor. The researchers reported that e-cig vapor induced DNA mutations linked to lung cancer.

RelatedPosts

Study shows dogs can accurately diagnose lung and breast cancer
Imaging Cancer with Sound and Light
Fluffy robot duck plans to befriend and comfort children with cancer
Galápagos giant tortoises often live over 100 years without cancer. The secret to their longevity may be in their genes

“Our results support the argument that the nicotine-derived DNA adducts are likely the main causes for carcinogenesis in mice exposed to E-cig smoke,” says study author Herbert Lepor, MD, the Martin Spatz Chair of Urology at NYU Langone Health. “Our next step in this line of work will be to expand the number of mice studied, to shorten and prolong E-cigarette exposure time, and to further investigate the genetic changes caused by E-cigarette smoke.”

The findings appeared in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Tags: cancere-cig vaporlung cancervaping

ShareTweetShare
Tibi Puiu

Tibi Puiu

Tibi is a science journalist and co-founder of ZME Science. He writes mainly about emerging tech, physics, climate, and space. In his spare time, Tibi likes to make weird music on his computer and groom felines. He has a B.Sc in mechanical engineering and an M.Sc in renewable energy systems.

Related Posts

Serotine bat. Image credits: Alona Shulenko.
Animals

Why Bats Don’t Get Cancer—And What That Could Mean for Us

byTudor Tarita
2 weeks ago
An illustration showing reprogrammed immune cells attacking cancer cells.
Diseases

CAR T Breakthrough Therapy Doubles Survival Time for Deadly Stomach Cancer

byRupendra Brahambhatt
2 weeks ago
Animals

A Treatment That Helped Dogs Survive Cancer Is Now Being Used on Children

byTudor Tarita
1 month ago
A unique eye accessory
Health

Miracle surgery: Doctors remove a hard-to-reach spinal tumor through the eye of a patient

byRupendra Brahambhatt
2 months ago

Recent news

Scientists Ranked the Most Hydrating Drinks and Water Didn’t Win

July 3, 2025

Methane Leaks from Fossil Fuels Hit Record Highs. And We’re Still Looking the Other Way

July 3, 2025
SNR 0509-67.5

Astronomers Found a Star That Exploded Twice Before Dying

July 3, 2025
  • About
  • Advertise
  • Editorial Policy
  • Privacy Policy and Terms of Use
  • How we review products
  • Contact

© 2007-2025 ZME Science - Not exactly rocket science. All Rights Reserved.

No Result
View All Result
  • Science News
  • Environment
  • Health
  • Space
  • Future
  • Features
    • Natural Sciences
    • Physics
      • Matter and Energy
      • Quantum Mechanics
      • Thermodynamics
    • Chemistry
      • Periodic Table
      • Applied Chemistry
      • Materials
      • Physical Chemistry
    • Biology
      • Anatomy
      • Biochemistry
      • Ecology
      • Genetics
      • Microbiology
      • Plants and Fungi
    • Geology and Paleontology
      • Planet Earth
      • Earth Dynamics
      • Rocks and Minerals
      • Volcanoes
      • Dinosaurs
      • Fossils
    • Animals
      • Mammals
      • Birds
      • Fish
      • Amphibians
      • Reptiles
      • Invertebrates
      • Pets
      • Conservation
      • Animal facts
    • Climate and Weather
      • Climate change
      • Weather and atmosphere
    • Health
      • Drugs
      • Diseases and Conditions
      • Human Body
      • Mind and Brain
      • Food and Nutrition
      • Wellness
    • History and Humanities
      • Anthropology
      • Archaeology
      • History
      • Economics
      • People
      • Sociology
    • Space & Astronomy
      • The Solar System
      • Sun
      • The Moon
      • Planets
      • Asteroids, meteors & comets
      • Astronomy
      • Astrophysics
      • Cosmology
      • Exoplanets & Alien Life
      • Spaceflight and Exploration
    • Technology
      • Computer Science & IT
      • Engineering
      • Inventions
      • Sustainability
      • Renewable Energy
      • Green Living
    • Culture
    • Resources
  • Videos
  • Reviews
  • About Us
    • About
    • The Team
    • Advertise
    • Contribute
    • Editorial policy
    • Privacy Policy
    • Contact

© 2007-2025 ZME Science - Not exactly rocket science. All Rights Reserved.