Brief: A study by Interphone Study Group, Germany reports that widespread use of
cellular telephones has generated concern about possible adverse health effects,
particularly brain tumors. In this population-based case-control study carried
out in three regions of Germany, all incident cases of glioma and meningioma
among patients aged 30-69 years were ascertained during 2000-2003. Controls
matched on age, gender, and region were randomly drawn from population
registries. In total, 366 glioma cases, 381 meningioma cases, and 1,494 controls
were interviewed. Overall use of a cellular phone was not associated with brain
tumor risk; the respective odds ratios were 0.98 (95% confidence interval (CI):
0.74, 1.29) for glioma and 0.84 (95% CI: 0.62, 1.13) for meningioma. Among
persons who had used cellular phones for 10 or more years, increased risk was
found for glioma (odds ratio = 2.20, 95% CI: 0.94, 5.11) but not for meningioma
(odds ratio = 1.09, 95% CI: 0.35, 3.37). No excess of temporal glioma (p = 0.41)
or meningioma (p = 0.43) was observed in cellular phone users as compared with
nonusers. Cordless phone use was not related to either glioma risk or meningioma
risk. In conclusion, no overall increased risk of glioma or meningioma was
observed among these cellular phone users; however, for long-term cellular phone
users, results need to be confirmed before firm conclusions can be drawn.
The paper will appear in the March 15 issue of the American Journal of
Epidemiology, but is already available on the journal’s Web site.
Correspondence should be addressed to:
Joachim Schüz, E-mail: joachim@cancer.dk