20 May 2010
No clear link between mobile phone use and brain cancer
Using mobile phones does not appear to increase the risk of developing brain cancer for most users, according to the largest ever study of mobile phone safety published in the International Journal of Epidemiology this week.
In recent years there has been public concern about mobile phone use and the risk of developing brain cancer.
The aim of the INTERPHONE study was to see if mobile phone use was linked to an increased risk of brain cancer. The study was co-ordinated by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), and it was partly funded by the telecommunications industry.
Researchers looked at data from more than 5,000 adults in 13 countries, who had been diagnosed with one of two types of brain cancer - glioma and meningioma - between 2000 and 2004.
Detailed information on past mobile use was collected during face-to-face interviews. The people with brain cancer were asked to remember how often they used their mobile phones over a period of up to 10 years previously, and then the results were compared with a similar number of adults in good health of similar age, sex and background. People under 30 were not included in the study.
The one finding that is under scrutiny and is related to how the study was carried out is the possibility that heavy mobile phone users (people talking on their mobile for more than half an hour per day every day) could be at an increased risk of glioma, and this most likely warrants further study.
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Dr Stan Goldstein, Head of Clinical Advisory, Bupa Australia |
This study does not materially change what we know... and hasn't changed the advice for mobile phone users... to limit overall exposure. 
However, as the majority of people in the study were not heavy mobile phone users and the method relied on memory recall, the authors said "biases and error prevent a causal interpretation".
For instance, some of the people with brain cancer reported that they had used their mobile phones for more than 12 hours a day, every day of the year. The authors thought that this high level of phone use was unlikely and suggested that the memories of some of the people may have been affected by their medical condition.
This was a retrospective study so even if there were significant findings showing an association between use and whether or not brain cancer had been reported, the study cannot prove a direct link between mobile use and risk of brain cancer.
In conclusion, mobile phones have neither been proven safe, nor unsafe. Further research is needed, especially in younger people who are heavy mobile phone users.
Dr Stan Goldstein, Head of Clinical Advisory, Bupa Australia, commented: "This study does not materially change what we know, hasn't altered the suspicions of those who had already been concerned, and hasn't changed the advice for mobile phone users. Before this study it was felt that it was sensible to take precautions and after this study it is still sensible to carry on doing so.
My advice to people is to reduce direct exposure by using speaker or hands-free options, and parents should certainly encourage their children to do the same; and limit overall exposure by using their mobile phone for less than 30 minutes per day."
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Related information
Read the study
The INTERPHONE Study Group. Brain tumour risk in relation to mobile telephone use: results of the INTERPHONE international case-control study. Intl J Epidemiol 2010;1-20 doi: 10.1093/ije/dyq079
