New York University study finds vape causes cancer in mice

According to the Los Angeles Times, a study of young mice has shown that long-term exposure to nicotine-containing e-liquid significantly increases the risk of cancer.

Studies show that after breathing electronically atomized gas for 20 hours per week for a year, 22.5% of mice had cancerous tumors on the inner wall of the lungs, while 57.5% of mice had lesions in the bladder tissue, which may be cancer Aura.

At the same time, only 5.6% of the mice in the control group breathed only the filtered air, and none of their bladder grew. In addition, a group of mice exposed to electronically atomized chemicals without nicotine did not have lung tumors, and only 6.3% had precancerous bladder growth.

The scientists conducting the study stressed that more research is needed to understand whether vape can cause cancer in humans. But they hope their findings will make people think twice before trying to use vape. vape is widely regarded by teenagers and young people as a safe alternative to smoking.

"Right or wrong, millions of young people are using these, and we need long-term, extensive population research, otherwise we won't be able to report results," said the head of research at New York University.

"Researchers need solid evidence to guide people's choices, and there is no doubt that nicotine alone damages the cells that make up organs, including the lungs," said Tang, who studies how tobacco smoke promotes lung and bladder cancer. "Now we can Try to find ways to prevent vape from causing cancer. "

Electronic nebulization has been linked to heart attacks, seizures, and explosive device burns. Outbreaks of at least 1,080 cases of nebulization-related lung injury are a clear reminder that it is too early to say whether vape can replace smoking.

To better understand the long-term effects of nicotine, Tang and his collaborators exposed 45 mice to a nicotine aerosol dissolved in isopropyl glycol and plant glycerin, a medium used to evaporate liquids, and another Group of 20 mice were exposed to the same vehicle without nicotine. Animals were aerosol-mixed for 4 hours a day, five days a week for 54 weeks.

A third group of 20 mice spent time in a room with filtered air. (This study is limited to 54 weeks to minimize the effects of cancers that may be age-related)

During the year, five mice died in the nicotine-exposed group, as did two in the other two groups.

When these 54 weeks ended, the remaining animals were killed and the researchers examined their tissues. Nine of the 40 mice in the nicotine group had tumors in their lungs. Tang said he wasn't surprised that tumors were found in the control group, because mice usually had an increased chance of developing lung cancer.

In addition, the researchers found that of the 40 mice that inhaled the vapor with nicotine, 23 would only develop hyperplasia of the bladder, which is an uncontrolled proliferation of cells in the inner wall of the bladder before cancer occurs. In comparison, 1 out of 16 mice that inhaled nicotine-free vapors had zero in 17 mice that inhaled filtered air.

The researchers concluded that the differences were large enough to conclude that nicotine e-liquid was responsible for the increased risk of tumors. For example, mice that inhaled nicotine mixtures were eight times more likely to develop lung tumors than the other two groups of mice that were not exposed to nicotine.

Dr. Mark Litwin, director of the Department of Urology at the University of California, Los Angeles, said this was compelling and very frightening. When the instructions encoded with DNA are messed up, the cells will go crazy and continue to reproduce, unable to control themselves. That is a sign of cancer. At first glance, it already looks like precancerous tissue.

The researchers also found that several mice exposed to vape vapors (with or without nicotine) developed abdominal or skin tumors, while those in the air-filtered group did not. However, these differences are small and may be accidental.

This work was funded by the National Institutes of Health.

Research published by Tang's team last year showed that when nicotine is introduced into mammalian cells, innate molecules called nitrate ions react with nicotine to form carcinogens in mice and humans.

"We can't say that vape can eventually cause human cancer," Tang said, but the mechanism that works here is very clear: the same carcinogens as other studies have shown are causing human cancer. We can infer that the use of vape will cause genetic material damage and damage cells, and the longer you smoke, the longer it will accumulate.

He added that the smoke drawn from the vape had to be more thoroughly studied before it could be considered safe or sold in this way.

The authors acknowledge that this study has several limitations. It includes a small number of rats, which are only surrounded by steam, rather than inhaling steam like human vape users.

Dr Herbert Lepor, chair of urology research and research author at New York University Langone Health, said the team plans to use more mice to test short-term and long-term exposure, and the researchers also plan to carefully study the genetic changes associated with inhaling vape smoke.

Experts agree that this new study does not answer the swirling questions surrounding the current outbreak of nebulization-related lung disease, but it does confirm concerns about the long-term impact of vape.

Litwin said teens will tell you that using vape is safer because it eliminates all the carcinogenic parts of cigarettes. It turns out that this is not the case.

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