dual cigarette and e-cigarette use in cancer survivors: an analysis using population assessment of tobacco health (path) data

Cancer survivors who smoke cigarettes face health risks from continued smoking. some smokers use e-cigarettes to reduce combustible cigarette use, but research on whether cancer survivors do the same is limited. research is needed to understand whether smokers who are cancer survivors use e-cigarettes at higher rates than smokers never diagnosed with cancer, to inform provider-patient discussions about e-cigarettes. using cross-sectional data from current cigarette smokers in wave 1 (2013–2014) of the population assessment of tobacco health (path) study, we compared cancer survivors (n = 433) and those without a prior cancer diagnosis (n = 10,872) on e-cigarette use and reasons for use. among smokers, 59.4% of cancer survivors and 63.2% of those without a cancer diagnosis had ever used e-cigarettes, and nearly one-quarter of both groups (23.1% and 22.3%, respectively) reported being current users. multivariate results, however, suggest that cancer survivors might be more likely to be ever (or = 1.28; p = .05) or current (or = 1.25; p = .06) e-cigarette users compared to those never diagnosed, although results were marginally significant. the majority of both groups (> 71%) reported using e-cigarettes for perceived health-related reasons—including smoking reduction. our study found that among smokers, cancer survivors were using e-cigarettes at similar rates as never-diagnosed smokers and both groups used e-cigarettes largely for perceived health-related reasons. clinicians who treat cancer survivors need to routinely ask their patients who smoke about e-cigarette use and address the limited research on the efficacy of e-cigarettes as a cessation aid as compared to other evidence-based options.