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Mobile phone use and risk of glioma in 5 North European countries.

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Lahkola A, Auvinen A, Raitanen J, Schoemaker MJ, Christensen HC, Feychting M, Johansen C, Klaeboe L, Lonn S, Swerdlow AJ, Tynes T, Salminen T. · 2007

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Long-term mobile phone use on the same side of the head where brain tumors develop shows a 39% increased cancer risk.

Plain English Summary

Summary written for general audiences

Researchers studied 1,522 brain cancer patients and 3,301 healthy people across five European countries to see if mobile phone use increases glioma risk. Overall, they found no increased cancer risk from regular phone use, but discovered a 39% higher risk when people used phones for more than 10 years on the same side of their head where the tumor developed. This suggests that long-term, localized exposure to the brain may pose risks that deserve further investigation.

Why This Matters

This large European study reveals a critical pattern that appears repeatedly in mobile phone research: overall reassuring results that mask concerning signals in the highest-exposure groups. The 39% increased risk for ipsilateral use (phone on the same side as the tumor) after 10+ years is particularly significant because it demonstrates biological plausibility - if phones cause brain tumors, we'd expect them on the side of heaviest exposure. The science demonstrates that this type of laterality finding, where tumor location correlates with phone use patterns, provides some of the strongest evidence for a causal relationship. What this means for you is that while short-term or moderate phone use may not dramatically increase brain cancer risk, the cumulative effects of long-term use directly against your head warrant serious consideration for protective measures.

Exposure Information

Specific exposure levels were not quantified in this study.

Study Details

We conducted a population-based case-control study to investigate the relationship between mobile phone use and risk of glioma among 1,522 glioma patients and 3,301 controls.

We found no evidence of increased risk of glioma related to regular mobile phone use (odds ratio, OR...

Although our results overall do not indicate an increased risk of glioma in relation to mobile phone use, the possible risk in the most heavily exposed part of the brain with long-term use needs to be explored further before firm conclusions can be drawn.

Cite This Study
Lahkola A, Auvinen A, Raitanen J, Schoemaker MJ, Christensen HC, Feychting M, Johansen C, Klaeboe L, Lonn S, Swerdlow AJ, Tynes T, Salminen T. (2007). Mobile phone use and risk of glioma in 5 North European countries. Int J Cancer. 120(8):1769-1775, 2007.
Show BibTeX
@article{a_2007_mobile_phone_use_and_2329,
  author = {Lahkola A and Auvinen A and Raitanen J and Schoemaker MJ and Christensen HC and Feychting M and Johansen C and Klaeboe L and Lonn S and Swerdlow AJ and Tynes T and Salminen T.},
  title = {Mobile phone use and risk of glioma in 5 North European countries.},
  year = {2007},
  
  url = {https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/17230523/},
}
PubMed: 17230523

Cited By (215 papers)

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Quick Questions About This Study

A 2007 study of 1,522 brain cancer patients found a 39% higher glioma risk when people used mobile phones for more than 10 years on the same side of their head where the tumor developed. Overall phone use showed no increased cancer risk.
Research analyzing 1,522 glioma patients across five European countries found no difference in brain cancer risk between analog and digital mobile phones. Both phone types showed similar safety profiles in this large-scale study.
The 2007 European study found increased glioma risk only when phones were used for 10+ years on the same side where the brain tumor developed. Using phones on the opposite side showed no increased cancer risk.
European researchers found a slight increase in glioma risk with every 100 hours of cumulative mobile phone use, but overall phone use showed no significant brain cancer risk among 1,522 patients studied across five countries.
A major study across five North European countries found no overall increased glioma risk from regular mobile phone use among 1,522 brain cancer patients, suggesting European populations don't face elevated brain cancer rates from phones.