A new study presented at the annual meeting of the American Thoracic Society in San Diego has shed light on the risks of vaping as a smoking cessation tool. The research, conducted by Dr. YeonWook Kim and his team at Seoul National University Bundang Hospital in South Korea, found that individuals who quit smoking and switched to vaping still faced higher odds of developing lung cancer compared to those who quit nicotine altogether.
The study, which tracked outcomes for over 4.3 million South Koreans enrolled in the National Health Screening Program, revealed that even after five years of quitting smoking, individuals who vaped had a higher risk of fatal lung cancer than those who did not vape. Additionally, those who quit smoking for less than five years and took up vaping had increased risks of developing or dying from lung cancer compared to those who quit smoking without vaping.
The findings are particularly concerning for individuals between the ages of 50 and 80, where the trend of increased lung cancer risk associated with vaping was especially strong. Dr. Kim emphasized the importance of considering the potential harms of using e-cigarettes as an alternative to smoking when implementing smoking cessation interventions to reduce lung cancer risk.
While these results are preliminary and have yet to be published in a peer-reviewed journal, they highlight the need for further research on the long-term health effects of vaping as a smoking cessation tool.