Vaping likely to cause lung and oral cancer, Australian researchers find in new review of evidence

‘There is no doubt that the cells and tissues of the oral cavity, the mouth and the lungs are altered by inhalation from e-cigarettes,’ academic says

Because modern e-cigarettes were only invented in the early 2000s, there is not enough long-term data from large numbers of people vaping and who developed cancer to determine a definitive risk Picture: Nicholas.T.Ansell/PA Wire

Vaping is likely to cause lung and oral cancer, researchers have found, as they urged regulators to act now rather than wait decades for a definitive level of risk.

Cancer researchers led by the University of New South Wales in Sydney analysed reviews of evidence from animal studies, human case reports and laboratory research published between 2017 and 2025, in one of the most detailed assessments to date of whether nicotine e-cigarettes could cause cancer.