Teen vaping habit ends in cancer diagnosis for 22-year-old woman

A 22-year-old retail worker from Manchester has been told she has roughly eighteen months to live after being diagnosed with an aggressive form of lung cancer—an illness she believes is linked to years of vaping that began in her teenage years.

Kayley Boda started vaping at 15, a habit she said seemed harmless at the time. Like many teenagers, she was drawn to small, easy-to-hide devices that were widely available and marketed as a safer alternative to traditional cigarettes.

According to a report by Fox News, which cited news agency SWNS, Kayley initially used reusable vaping devices. However, she noticed changes in her health after switching to disposable vapes.

A few months after making the switch, Kayley began coughing up brown, grainy mucus—an alarming symptom that prompted her to seek medical attention. She visited doctors eight times in total and was repeatedly told she had a chest infection before being sent home.

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It was not until she began coughing up bright red blood that further tests were ordered. An X-ray revealed a shadow on the lower right lung. Over the next four months, she underwent seven biopsies.

In August 2025, doctors diagnosed her with stage one lung cancer. But by the time surgeons removed the lower lobe of her right lung, the disease had progressed to stage three, meaning it had spread to six surrounding lymph nodes.

Kayley underwent chemotherapy and major surgery. The treatment took a heavy toll on her body—she temporarily lost the ability to breathe properly and had to relearn how to walk.

In February 2026, she was given the all-clear, offering a brief period of relief and hope. However, just two months later, she returned to hospital with severe chest pain.

Doctors discovered that the cancer had returned, this time spreading to the pleural lining of her lungs. Her oncologist told her the recurrence was rare for someone her age and more commonly seen in patients around 80 years old.

“The oncologist said this is so rare, and usually something they see in patients that are 80 years old,” she said in interviews.

Kayley has spoken publicly about her belief that vaping played a major role in her illness. She says there is no family history of lung cancer, and her symptoms began shortly after she transitioned to disposable vaping devices.

While her doctors could not attribute her cancer to a single definitive cause, they reportedly told her that smoking and vaping would not have helped her condition.

Since her diagnosis, Kayley has quit vaping completely. She has also urged her partner and mother to stop and is now appealing to others—especially young people—to reconsider the habit.

Vaping products were widely promoted as a safer alternative to cigarettes, particularly among younger users. While some studies suggest vaping may expose users to fewer harmful substances than traditional tobacco smoke, experts caution that “less studied” does not mean “safe.”

Disposable vapes have increasingly come under scrutiny, with some research indicating they may contain elevated levels of certain toxic compounds. However, long-term data on the health effects of vaping is still limited because the products have not been in widespread use for decades.