No clear evidence of link between cell phones & brain cancer

The largest study conducted by scientists to date of the safety of mobile phones said that it offered no clear evidence of a link with brain cancer.
The Interphone study followed almost 13,000 phone users in 13 countries. Scientists said that it showed no increased risk of developing a tumour. They added that suggestions of greater cancer occurrence in the 10% of people who used their phones most intensively should be approached with caution as they were most likely a result of flaws in the research.

Scientists looked at more than 5,000 men & women aged 30 to 59 with glioma & meningioma brain tumours, which affect about 1 in 10,000 of the UK population/year. They were compared with the same number of healthy individuals. Participants were asked for details about their mobile phone usage over the past 15 years, taking into account both the number of calls made & time spent on the phone.

Information such as what side of the head people normally held their handsets was also collected. Cancer rates were analysed to see if they corresponded in any meaningful way to mobile phone use.

Britain was one of the main contributors to the £16 million study, published today in the International Journal of Epidemiology.

Professor Anthony Swerdlow, from the Institute of Cancer Research, in Sutton, Surrey, said that indications that the heaviest users had a higher risk of tumours were compromised by biases and errors and should not be seen as a causal link. He added that those with tumours reported improbable use levels of 12 hours or more every day.

Tests designed to uncover flaws in the study suggested that brain cancer patients were likely to exaggerate when asked about mobile phone use.Psychological bias may 've affected their answers & brain tumours were known to affect thinking & memory, said the scientists. Given that the heaviest users in the study talked on their phones for an average of half an hour/day, a figure which is not heavy by today’s standards, the researchers recommended further research.

European scientists last month started what will become the biggest-ever study into the effects of mobile phone use on long-term health. It aims to track at least a quarter of a million people in five European countries for up to thirty years.