Σάββατο 17 Ιανουαρίου 2009

CELL PHONES ARE SAFE

A Lahkola; T Salminen; J Raitanen; S Heinävaara; MJ Schoemaker; H Collatz Christensen; M Feychting; C Johansen; L Klæboe; S Lönn; AJ Swerdlow; T Tynes; A AuvinenInt J Epidemiol. 2008;37(6):1304-1313. ©2008 Oxford University Press
Posted 01/07/2009

Abstract and Introduction

Abstract

Background: Use of mobile telephones has been suggested as a possible risk factor for intracranial tumours. To evaluate the effect of mobile phones on risk of meningioma, we carried out an international, collaborative case-control study of 1209 meningioma cases and 3299 population-based controls.
Methods: Population-based cases were identified, mostly from hospitals, and controls from national population registers and general practitioners’ patient lists. Detailed history of mobile phone use was obtained by personal interview. Regular mobile phone use (at least once a week for at least 6 months), duration of use, cumulative number and hours of use, and several other indicators of mobile phone use were assessed in relation to meningioma risk using conditional logistic regression with strata defined by age, sex, country and region.
Results: Risk of meningioma among regular users of mobile phones was apparently lower than among never or non-regular users (odds ratio, OR = 0.76, 95% confidence interval, CI 0.65, 0.89). The risk was not increased in relation to years since first use, lifetime years of use, cumulative hours of use or cumulative number of calls. The findings were similar regardless of telephone network type (analogue/digital), age or sex.
Conclusions: Our results do not provide support for an association between mobile phone use and risk of meningioma.


No Link Between Eye Cancer and Cell-Phone Use

January 13, 2009 — There is no association between uveal melanoma, a rare form of eye cancer, and regular use of cell phones, says a group of German researchers who previously reported that there was an increased risk.

The current results come from a much larger study, which used very detailed exposure assessments, and so are likely to be more accurate than the previous findings, commented lead researcher Andreas Stang, MD, from the Clinical Epidemiology Unit at the Martin-Luther University of Halle-Wittenberg, in Germany. The latest results are "reassuring," he told Medscape Oncology, because there was no increase in risk up to 10 years' exposure, he added. "We did a very detailed analysis, and we did our very best to show an association, and we did not find one."

The latest results are published online January 13 in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute. They come from a case–control study that involved 459 cases, "which, for the rarity of this cancer, is a very big study," Dr. Stang said. The group matched the cases with 1194 control subjects, 827 of whom were from the general population, 180 of whom were from the ophthalmology clinics at which the cases were found, and 187 of whom were siblings of the patients who had uveal melanoma. There was no association between an increased risk for cancer and cell-phone use in any of these comparison, the researchers report.

The previous study by the same group, which found an increased risk, was reported several years ago in Epidemiology (2001;12:7-12). It involved only 118 cases and used a crude exposure assessment, focusing on use of cell phones while at work. "At that time, cell-phone technology was not very widespread in Germany, and so that was a very different scenario, compared to nowadays," Dr. Stang commented.

The current study did not corroborate the previous results, the group concludes.

Many other studies have looked at links between brain cancer and cell-phone use, but Dr. Stang explained that "the eye is exposed to a considerable dose of cell-phone radiation because of its topography, so if there is any danger from this radiation, then the eye is also a candidate." He would not comment more widely about the association between brain cancer and cell-phone use, saying that he could not generalize. There are questions remaining about the long-term use of cell phones, for example 20 to 30 years out. "We cannot say anything about this," he said. Most studies, including this one, have looked at only about 10 years of exposure.


J Natl Cancer Inst. 2006 Dec 6;98(23):1707-13.Related Articles, LinkOut
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Comment in:
Cellular telephone use and cancer risk: update of a nationwide Danish cohort.

Schüz J, Jacobsen R, Olsen JH, Boice JD Jr, McLaughlin JK, Johansen C.

Institute of Cancer Epidemiology, Danish Cancer Society, Strandboulevarden 49, DK-2100 Copenhagen, Denmark. joachim@cancer.dk

BACKGROUND: The widespread use of cellular telephones has heightened concerns about possible adverse health effects. The objective of this study was to investigate cancer risk among Danish cellular telephone users who were followed for up to 21 years. METHODS: This study is an extended follow-up of a large nationwide cohort of 420,095 persons whose first cellular telephone subscription was between 1982 and 1995 and who were followed through 2002 for cancer incidence. Standardized incidence ratios (SIRs) were calculated by dividing the number of observed cancer cases in the cohort by the number expected in the Danish population. RESULTS: A total of 14,249 cancers were observed (SIR = 0.95; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.93 to 0.97) for men and women combined. Cellular telephone use was not associated with increased risk for brain tumors (SIR = 0.97), acoustic neuromas (SIR = 0.73), salivary gland tumors (SIR = 0.77), eye tumors (SIR = 0.96), or leukemias (SIR = 1.00). Among long-term subscribers of 10 years or more, cellular telephone use was not associated with increased risk for brain tumors (SIR = 0.66, 95% CI = 0.44 to 0.95), and there was no trend with time since first subscription. The risk for smoking-related cancers was decreased among men (SIR = 0.88, 95% CI = 0.86 to 0.91) but increased among women (SIR = 1.11, 95% CI = 1.02 to 1.21). Additional data on income and smoking prevalence, primarily among men, indicated that cellular telephone users who started subscriptions in the mid-1980s appeared to have a higher income and to smoke less than the general population. CONCLUSIONS: We found no evidence for an association between tumor risk and cellular telephone use among either short-term or long-term users. Moreover, the narrow confidence intervals provide evidence that any large association of risk of cancer and cellular telephone use can be excluded.

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