Mobile phone use and glioma risk: A systematic review and meta-analysis.
Yang M, Guo W, Yang C, Tang J, Huang Q, Feng S, Jiang A, Xu X, Jiang G. · 2017
View Original AbstractTen years of cell phone use increases brain tumor risk by 44%, with highest risk on the phone-holding side of the head.
Plain English Summary
Researchers analyzed 11 studies involving over 17,000 people to examine whether cell phone use increases brain tumor risk. They found that using a phone for 10 or more years increased the odds of developing glioma (a type of brain tumor) by 44%, with the strongest association for tumors on the same side of the head where people held their phone. The risk was particularly high for low-grade gliomas, which more than doubled with long-term use.
Why This Matters
This meta-analysis represents one of the most comprehensive examinations of cell phone use and brain cancer risk to date, combining data from multiple studies to identify patterns that individual studies might miss. The finding of a 44% increased risk after 10 years of use is particularly concerning given that many people today have been using cell phones for well over a decade. The fact that the risk was highest on the same side of the head where people typically hold their phone (ipsilateral use) strengthens the biological plausibility of the association. What makes this research especially relevant is that it focuses on long-term exposure patterns that mirror real-world usage. The authors acknowledge the evidence quality limitations, but the consistency of findings across multiple studies suggests this isn't simply statistical noise. For the millions of people who have been regular cell phone users for a decade or more, these results underscore the importance of taking precautionary steps to reduce head exposure to radiofrequency radiation.
Exposure Information
Specific exposure levels were not quantified in this study.
Study Details
Many studies have previously investigated the potential association between mobile phone use and the risk of glioma. However, results from these individual studies are inconclusive and controversial. The objective of our study was to investigate the potential association between mobile phone use and subsequent glioma risk using meta-analysis.
We performed a systematic search of the Science Citation Index Embase and PubMed databases for studi...
There was a significant positive association between long-term mobile phone use (minimum, 10 years) ...
Our results suggest that long-term mobile phone use may be associated with an increased risk of glioma. There was also an association between mobile phone use and low-grade glioma in the regular use or long-term use subgroups. However, current evidence is of poor quality and limited quantity. It is therefore necessary to conduct large sample, high quality research or better characterization of any potential association between long-term ipsilateral mobile phone use and glioma risk.
Show BibTeX
@article{m_2017_mobile_phone_use_and_2690,
author = {Yang M and Guo W and Yang C and Tang J and Huang Q and Feng S and Jiang A and Xu X and Jiang G.},
title = {Mobile phone use and glioma risk: A systematic review and meta-analysis.},
year = {2017},
url = {https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28472042/},
}