Reacción a "A review of studies warns of the carcinogenic potential of nicotine-containing e-cigarettes"

Over the past two decades, the use of e-cigarettes has become increasingly widespread in our society, fueled by nicotine’s addictive properties, the use of flavors and designs that are particularly appealing to teenagers and young adults, and information that portrays these devices as if they merely emitted water vapor. The growing body of studies on the health effects of e-cigarette use—which were scarce when these products first hit the market—leaves no doubt about the harm caused by nicotine addiction in adolescence and the damage these devices inflict on respiratory and cardiovascular health.

It is still difficult to provide epidemiological data on the impact of e-cigarette use on cancer incidence and mortality because, as with other causal factors of this disease such as tobacco use, it is likely to take decades from the start of exposure until a significant number of cases begin to be diagnosed. However, the comprehensive review recently published in the journal Carcinogenesis provides data from numerous studies indicating that exposure to aerosols from nicotine-containing e-cigarettes is associated with some of the key features of carcinogenesis, such as DNA damage, oxidative stress, and epigenetic changes, which contribute to an increased risk of oral cavity cancer, lung cancer, and other forms of cancer among people who use these devices, even if they have not been users of conventional tobacco products.

According to the available scientific evidence, it is not appropriate to propose the use of e-cigarettes as a safe and effective strategy to reduce the risks associated with tobacco use, and it is necessary to adopt new measures to prevent young people and adolescents from taking up their use, by better regulating their promotion and marketing, limiting the use of flavors and designs that make them more appealing, preventing the sale of disposable devices, and subjecting them to a tax regime commensurate with their negative impact on public health, as has been called for by the National Committee for the Prevention of Tobacco Use and other scientific and health organizations