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Cancer & Tumors648 citations

Brain tumour risk in relation to mobile telephone use: results of the INTERPHONE international case-control study.

No Effects Found

The INTERPHONE Study Group. · 2010

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Heavy mobile phone users showed 40% higher brain tumor risk, but study limitations prevent confirming whether phones actually cause cancer.

Plain English Summary

Summary written for general audiences

Researchers studied brain tumor risk in over 5,000 people across 13 countries, comparing mobile phone users to non-users. They found no overall increased risk of brain tumors from mobile phone use, but did see a 40% higher risk of glioma (a type of brain cancer) in the heaviest users who reported over 1,640 hours of cumulative call time. However, the researchers noted that recall bias and other methodological issues prevent drawing firm conclusions about causation.

Study Details

The aim of this study is to investigate Brain tumour risk in relation to mobile telephone use: results of the INTERPHONE international case-control study.

An interview-based case-control study with 2708 glioma and 2409 meningioma cases and matched control...

A reduced odds ratio (OR) related to ever having been a regular mobile phone user was seen for gliom...

Overall, no increase in risk of glioma or meningioma was observed with use of mobile phones. There were suggestions of an increased risk of glioma at the highest exposure levels, but biases and error prevent a causal interpretation. The possible effects of long-term heavy use of mobile phones require further investigation.

Cite This Study
The INTERPHONE Study Group. (2010). Brain tumour risk in relation to mobile telephone use: results of the INTERPHONE international case-control study. Int J Epidemiol.39(3):675-94,2010.
Show BibTeX
@article{group._2010_brain_tumour_risk_in_3105,
  author = {The INTERPHONE Study Group.},
  title = {Brain tumour risk in relation to mobile telephone use: results of the INTERPHONE international case-control study.},
  year = {2010},
  
  url = {https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/20483835/},
}

Quick Questions About This Study

Researchers studied brain tumor risk in over 5,000 people across 13 countries, comparing mobile phone users to non-users. They found no overall increased risk of brain tumors from mobile phone use, but did see a 40% higher risk of glioma (a type of brain cancer) in the heaviest users who reported over 1,640 hours of cumulative call time. However, the researchers noted that recall bias and other methodological issues prevent drawing firm conclusions about causation.