Ditching cigarettes for vapes may curb the cancer benefits of quitting
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- Yeon Wook Kim and colleagues at Seoul National University analyzed data from more than 4.5 million adult smokers in the Korean National Health Screening Programme between 2018 and 2023.
- The study recorded 35,887 lung cancer cases and 12,807 lung‑cancer‑related deaths among participants over the five‑year period.
- Vaping ex‑smokers had a 56 % higher risk of lung‑cancer death than former smokers who did not vape, according to the researchers.
- Current smokers who switched to e‑cigarettes after quitting had a significantly lower risk of death from any cause than those who continued smoking.
- UK data shows that over 40 % of smokers who quit in 2024 used e‑cigarettes, and about 20 % of ex‑smokers continued vaping a year or more after quitting.
- Researchers caution that the study cannot prove vaping causes lung cancer and call for longer‑term, international studies.
Why it matters: Smokers seeking to quit may think vaping is a safe bridge, but the study shows it raises lung‑cancer mortality by more than half compared with full cessation, prompting health officials and cessation programs to stress quitting smoking altogether over switching to e‑cigarettes.
