Study on Vape Harm: DNA Changes from Vaping Resemble Cancer

On February 18, news reported that a new study shows that e-cigarette users may have potentially carcinogenic changes in their DNA, similar to the DNA changes found in smokers.

These chemical changes—known as epigenetic changes—may lead to gene malfunction. Researchers point out that they are present in nearly all types of cancer and other serious diseases.

Ahmad Besaratinia, an associate professor of preventive medicine at the Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California, said: "This does not mean that these individuals will develop cancer."

"But what we see is that the same changes in chemical tags detectable in tumors of cancer patients are also found in e-cigarette or smoking populations, likely due to exposure to carcinogenic chemicals present in cigarette smoke, and their levels are usually much lower, including the vapor from e-cigarettes," he said in a school press release.

Besaratinia and his colleagues say their findings add to the list of health issues associated with e-cigarettes.

The study included 45 participants: those who only used e-cigarettes, those who only smoked cigarettes, and a control group of non-smokers.

Changes in two specific chemical tags connected to DNA were tested in blood samples, which are important for proper gene activity and/or function. The level changes of these chemical tags occurred across all age groups and in diseases such as cancer.

Compared to the control group, both smokers and e-cigarette users showed significantly lower levels of these chemical tags. The authors of the study stated that this is the first study to show that these changes can be detected in the blood of smokers, just as in e-cigarette users.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, many people believe that using e-cigarettes is safer than smoking, and over 25% of American high school students use e-cigarettes.

Researchers now plan to determine the genetic impacts of these chemical changes in all e-cigarette users. Besaratinia stated that this research could have direct implications for public policy.

He said: "The prevalence of e-cigarettes among teenagers and the recent outbreak of severe lung injuries and deaths associated with e-cigarettes in the U.S. highlight the importance of providing scientific evidence that can inform future regulations on the production, sale, and distribution of e-cigarettes."

The study was recently published online in the journal "Epigenetics."