Updated October 12th, 2020

New Study Finds Vaping Causes the Same Changes to DNA as Smoking Cigarettes

There have been 64 vaping-related deaths in the U.S. so far, according to the CDC.

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Vaping and Changes in DNA

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, there have been 64 vaping-related deaths in the U.S.
A new study suggests that vaping can lead to the same changes in DNA that is seen in smokers
These changes are commonly found in nearly all types of human cancer and many other illnesses

Vaping was initially marketed as a safer way than smoking cigarettes to get a nicotine fix. But a growing number of vaping-related lung disease diagnoses and even deaths has caused many to question the validity of those initial safety claims. Now, the latest update comes from researchers at Keck School of Medicine of USC, who found that vaping can lead to the same changes in DNA that is seen in smokers.

The study, published in the journal Epigenetics, concluded that chemical alterations (or epigenetic changes) can cause genes to malfunction. These changes are found in nearly all types of human cancer as well as several other serious illnesses.

The study looked at 45 participants broken up into three groups — those who smoke, those who vaped and those who do neither — and found a reduction in two specific chemical tags attached to DNA that are known to impact gene activity and/or function in both the smokers and the vapers. The study is the first to show that vaping can cause these important changes to DNA.

What does this mean for people who use e-cigarettes as an alternative to smoking cigarettes?

Study lead Ahmad Besaratinia, PhD, associate professor at the Keck School of Medicine of USC, broke it down.

“That doesn’t mean that these people are going to develop cancer,” he said. “But what we are seeing is that the same changes in chemical tags detectable in tumors from cancer patients are also found in people who vape or smoke, presumably due to exposure to cancer-causing chemicals present in cigarette smoke and, generally at much lower levels, in electronic cigarettes’ vapor.”

Besaratinia and his team plan to continue their research to paint a clearer image of the lasting health effects of vaping.

What Has Been Confirmed About Vaping-Related Illness?

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), there have been 64 vaping-related deaths in the U.S. so far. Another 2,758 people have been hospitalized due to these illnesses, as of last week.

The CDC said that data show that an additive called vitamin E acetate, which is included in some vaping and e-cigarette products that contain THC (the psychoactive compound in marijuana), is strongly linked to the outbreak of vaping-related illnesses. However, the organization also notes that there could be other chemicals contributing to the outbreak.

“The big problem with vaping and JUUL is that we just really don’t know what’s going to happen with it,” Dr. Brendon Stiles, a thoracic surgeon at Weill Cornell Medicine, told SurvivorNet when discussing the issue in a previous interview.

Dr. Brendon Stiles discusses the possibility that vaping can lead to serious lung illnesses

Dr. Stiles noted it’s very important to research vaping because, like smoking cigarettes, there’s a chance that this will be a lifestyle factor that leads to lung disease down the line. Considering the number of teens who currently admit to vaping (more than 25% of high school students), there’s a chance that a health crisis is coming in the next decade or so.

“Are there compounds in vaping that we’re just not regulating and we don’t know anything about that may cause secondary insults or inflammation in the lungs? There’s plenty of history of other inflammatory lung conditions causing or triggering lung cancer,” Dr. Stiles said. “So, to me, it’s not a great leap to think that inhalation from vaping could trigger lung cancer down the road or other inflammatory lung diseases.”

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