07 Aug 2025

Landmark COSA Report Warns of Cancer Risks Linked to E-Cigarettes

We are pleased to congratulate our colleagues at the Clinical Oncology Society of Australia (COSA) on the launch of a landmark research report—E-Cigarettes and Cancer—which presents a qualitative risk assessment of the evidence linking e-cigarette use to cancer.

Authored by Professor Bernard Stewart AM, Chair of COSA’s Cancer Prevention Group, with input from a multidisciplinary working group of oncology and public health professionals, the report delivers a clear message - nicotine-based e-cigarettes are likely to be carcinogenic to humans who use them. E-cigarettes are likely to cause lung cancer and oral cancer.

The COSA Research Report on E-Cigarettes and Cancer is supported by Cancer Council Australia and Lung Foundation Australia.

COSA intends to publish a subsequent position statement to integrate the findings in this report with wider considerations relating to the availability and impact of e-cigarettes in Australia, and any role for e-cigarettes in smoking cessation by cancer patients.

It provides valuable insights for clinicians, particularly around the use of e-cigarettes in smoking cessation for people affected by cancer.