Epidemiological study (observational study)

The Intracranial Distribution of Gliomas in Relation to Exposure From Mobile Phones: Analyses From the INTERPHONE Study epidem.

By: Grell K, Frederiksen K, Schüz J, Cardis E, Armstrong B, Siemiatycki J, Krewski DR, McBride ML, Johansen C, Auvinen A, Hours M, Blettner M, Sadetzki S, Lagorio S, Yamaguchi N, Woodward A, Tynes T, Feychting M, Fleming SJ, Swerdlow AJ, Andersen PK

Published in: Am J Epidemiol 2016; 184 (11): 818-828

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Aim of study (acc. to author)

A case-only analysis was conducted to investigate the association between mobile phone use and glioma using information that included tumor localization data from the INTERPHONE Study.

Further details

A 3-dimensional point process model of Grell et al. (2015) was applied to analyze the tumor localization data. This method provides an alternative to previously used epidemiologic research designs when the localization is included in the investigation of brain tumors and mobile phone use.
Regular use of a mobile phone was defined as at least once a week for at least six months.

Endpoint/type of risk estimation

brain tumor: glioma

Type of risk estimation:

incidence

Exposure

- mobile communications
- mobile phone

Assessment

questionnaire: number of mobile phone calls, duration of calls, use of a hands-free device, preferred side of the head for mobile phone use, time since the start of use
calculation: cumulative call time and number of calls

Exposure groups

Group	Description
Reference group 1	duration of mobile phone use: < 6 years
Group 2	duration of mobile phone use: ≥ 6 years
Reference group 3	cumulative mobile phone use: < 200 hours
Group 4	cumulative mobile phone use: ≥ 200 hours
Reference group 5	cumulative number of calls: < 4,000
Group 6	cumulative number of calls: ≥ 4,000

Population

Group:
- men
- women
Age: 30–59 years
Characteristics: glioma, histologically confirmed
Observation period: 2000 - 2004
Study location: Australia, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Israel, Italy, Japan, New Zealand, Norway, Sweden, UK

Study size

Type	Value
Total	2,700
Eligible	1,530
Evaluable	792

Statistical analysis method:

point process model, sensitivity analyses

Results (acc. to author)

A statistically significant association between the intracranial distribution of gliomas and the selfreported location of the mobile phone was observed, in the sense that more gliomas occurred closer to the ear on the side of the head where the mobile phone was reported to have been used the most. The association was independent of the cumulative call time and cumulative number of calls, making it less likely that the association observed is caused by mobile phone use.

Limitations (acc. to author)

The model used reported side of mobile phone use, which is potentially influenced by recall bias.

Study funded by

3
Academy of Finland
Association pour la Recherche sur le Cancer (ARC), France
Bouygues Telecom, France
Canada Research Chairs (Chaires de Recherche du Canada), Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR)
Canadian Wireless Telecommunications Association (CWTA; Association canadienne des télécommunications sans fil (ACTS)), Canada
Cancer Society of New Zealand
Danish Cancer Society
Department of Health, UK
Deutsches Mobilfunk Forschungsprogramm (DMF; German Mobile Phone Research Programme) at Federal Office for Radiation Protection (BfS)
Emil Aaltonen Foundation, Finland
European Union (EU)/European Commission
GSM Association, UK/Ireland
Health and Safety Executive, UK
Health Research Council of New Zealand
International Union against Cancer (UICC; Union Internationale Contre le Cancer), Switzerland
MAIFOR Program (Mainzer Forschungsförderungsprogramm) of the University of Mainz, Germany
Ministerium für Umwelt und Naturschutz, Landwirtschaft und Verbraucherschutz, Nordrhein-Westfalen (Ministry for the Environment of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia), Germany
Ministerium für Umwelt, Klima und Energiewirtschaft, Baden-Württemberg (Ministry of the Environment, Climate Protection and the Energy Sector of the state of Baden-Württemberg), Germany
Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, Japan
Mobile Manufacturers Forum (MMF), Belgium
Mobile Telecommunications and Health Research (MTHR), UK
National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC), Australia
National Health Service (NHS), UK
Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC) of Canada
O2
Orange
Scottish Executive/Scottish Ministers, UK
SFR, France
Swedish Research Council (VR)
T-Mobile
University of Sydney, Australia
Vodafone
Waikato Medical Research Foundation (WMRF), New Zealand
Wellington Medical Research Foundation (WMRF), New Zealand

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