A case-control study of risk of leukaemia in relation to mobile phone use.
Cooke R, Laing S, Swerdlow AJ. · 2010
View Original AbstractThis large UK study found no increased leukemia risk from mobile phone use, though long-term users showed nearly doubled risk.
Plain English Summary
Researchers studied 806 leukemia patients and 585 healthy controls in England to examine whether mobile phone use increases leukemia risk. They found no overall increased risk of leukemia among regular mobile phone users, though people who first used phones 15 or more years ago showed a nearly doubled risk that wasn't quite statistically significant. This suggests mobile phones don't cause leukemia in most users, but very long-term effects remain uncertain.
Why This Matters
This study represents one of the largest investigations into mobile phone use and leukemia risk, addressing a critical gap in cancer research. While the overall findings appear reassuring, the near-doubling of risk among the longest-term users (those who started 15+ years ago) deserves attention. The researchers themselves acknowledge this possibility remains open, despite calling it 'biologically unlikely.' What this means for you is that while current evidence doesn't support a strong leukemia-mobile phone connection, we're still in the early stages of understanding long-term effects. The reality is that mobile phones became widespread only in the 1990s, so we're just beginning to see the health impacts of truly long-term use spanning decades.
Exposure Information
Specific exposure levels were not quantified in this study.
Study Details
The aim of this study is to investigate A case-control study of risk of leukaemia in relation to mobile phone use
In a case-control study in South East England to investigate the relation of acute and non-lymphocyt...
No association was found between regular mobile phone use and risk of leukaemia (odds ratio (OR)=1.0...
This study suggests that use of mobile phones does not increase leukaemia risk, although the possibility of an effect after long-term use, while biologically unlikely, remains open.
Show BibTeX
@article{r_2010_a_casecontrol_study_of_1992,
author = {Cooke R and Laing S and Swerdlow AJ.},
title = {A case-control study of risk of leukaemia in relation to mobile phone use.},
year = {2010},
url = {https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/20940717/},
}