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Cell phone use and the risk of glioma: are case-control study findings consistent with Canadian time trends in cancer incidence?

Environmental research · 2021 · No effect · Low evidence

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No effectLow evidencePaper 1143

Age-standardized glioma incidence rates in Canada were relatively stable from 1992 to 2015 while cellular subscriptions increased to ~29.5 million by 2015. Applying relative risks from Swedish pooled case-control analyses, INTERPHONE (13-country), and Canadia…

Study snapshot

PublicationEnvironmental research · 2021
Study typeecological
Reported directionNo effect
Evidence ratingLow

Abstract

Cell phone use and the risk of glioma: are case-control study findings consistent with Canadian time trends in cancer incidence? Paul J Villeneuve, Franco Momoli, Marie-Élise Parent, Jack Siemiatycki, Michelle C Turner, Daniel Krewski. Cell phone use and the risk of glioma: are case-control study findings consistent with Canadian time trends in cancer incidence? Environ Res. 2021 May 21;111283. doi: 10.1016/j.envres.2021.111283. Highlights • The possibility that the use of cell phones increases the risk of cancer remains controversial. • We examined trends in cell phone use and incidence rates of glioma for Canada between 1992 and 2015. • Age standardized incidence rates for glioma in Canada were relatively stable between 1992 and 2015. • Canadian trends in glioma and cell phone use were not compatible with increased risks of glioma that have been reported in some previous case-control studies. Abstract Background: There remains controversy as to whether cell phones cause cancer. We evaluated whether temporal changes in cell phone use and the incidence of glioma in Canada were consistent with the hypothesis of an increased risk. Design: We used data from the Canadian Cancer Registry to calculate annual incidence rates for glioma between 1992 and 2015. The annual number of new cell phone subscribers was determined using national industry statistics. The number of newly diagnosed gliomas was compared to the predicted number by applying risks from epidemiological studies to age-specific population estimates. Specifically, we calculated the "predicted" number of incident gliomas by determining the annual prevalence of cell phone users and years of use. These estimates were multiplied by the corresponding risk estimates to determine the predicted number of gliomas. Results: The number of cellular subscriptions in Canada increased from nil in the early-1980s to approximately 29.5 million in 2015. In contrast, age-standardized glioma incidence rates remained stable between 1992 and 2015. The application of risk estimates from i) a recent pooled analyses of Swedish case-control studies, ii) the 13 country INTERPHONE study, and iii) the Canadian data from INTERPHONE overestimated the observed number of glioma cases diagnosed in Canada in 2015 by 49%, 85%, and 63%, respectively. Interpretation: Predictions of glioma incidence counts using estimates of the relative risk of glioma due to cell phone use from case-control studies over-estimated the incidence rates of glioma in Canada. The absence of an elevation in incidence rates of glioma in conjunction with marked increases in cell phone use suggests that there may not be a causal link between cellphones and glioma. pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Machine Enhanced Logic

AI evidence extraction

Structured fields below were generated from the paper’s abstract and metadata to make the evidence easier to inspect. Automated extraction may be incomplete or incorrect; verify important details against the original paper.

Study typeecological
Effect directionno_effect
PopulationCanada (population-level cancer incidence and mobile phone subscription trends)
Sample sizeNot supplied
ExposureRF · years of use (prevalence and years of use estimated annually; 1992–2015 incidence trends; subscriptions up to 2015)
Evidence strengthLowConfidence: 78% · Peer reviewed: yes

Main findings

Age-standardized glioma incidence rates in Canada were relatively stable from 1992 to 2015 while cellular subscriptions increased to ~29.5 million by 2015. Applying relative risks from Swedish pooled case-control analyses, INTERPHONE (13-country), and Canadian INTERPHONE data overestimated observed glioma cases in 2015 by 49%, 85%, and 63%, respectively; the authors interpret this as not supporting a causal link.

Outcomes measured

  • Glioma incidence (age-standardized incidence rates; observed vs predicted counts)

Limitations

  • Ecological/time-trend comparison; exposure measured via subscriber statistics rather than individual use
  • Predicted case counts depend on assumptions about prevalence and years of use and on selected risk estimates from prior case-control studies
  • No frequency, SAR, or other dosimetry information reported in abstract
View raw extracted JSON
{
  "study_type": "ecological",
  "exposure": {
    "band": "RF",
    "source": "mobile phone",
    "frequency_mhz": null,
    "sar_wkg": null,
    "duration": "years of use (prevalence and years of use estimated annually; 1992–2015 incidence trends; subscriptions up to 2015)"
  },
  "population": "Canada (population-level cancer incidence and mobile phone subscription trends)",
  "sample_size": null,
  "outcomes": [
    "Glioma incidence (age-standardized incidence rates; observed vs predicted counts)"
  ],
  "main_findings": "Age-standardized glioma incidence rates in Canada were relatively stable from 1992 to 2015 while cellular subscriptions increased to ~29.5 million by 2015. Applying relative risks from Swedish pooled case-control analyses, INTERPHONE (13-country), and Canadian INTERPHONE data overestimated observed glioma cases in 2015 by 49%, 85%, and 63%, respectively; the authors interpret this as not supporting a causal link.",
  "effect_direction": "no_effect",
  "limitations": [
    "Ecological/time-trend comparison; exposure measured via subscriber statistics rather than individual use",
    "Predicted case counts depend on assumptions about prevalence and years of use and on selected risk estimates from prior case-control studies",
    "No frequency, SAR, or other dosimetry information reported in abstract"
  ],
  "evidence_strength": "low",
  "confidence": 0.78,
  "peer_reviewed_likely": "yes",
  "keywords": [
    "cell phone",
    "mobile phone",
    "RF exposure",
    "glioma",
    "cancer incidence trends",
    "Canada",
    "Canadian Cancer Registry",
    "INTERPHONE",
    "case-control risk estimates",
    "ecological analysis"
  ],
  "suggested_hubs": [
    {
      "slug": "who-icnirp",
      "weight": 0.2,
      "reason": "Addresses mobile phone–glioma evidence controversy using population incidence trends; relevant to major risk-assessment discussions."
    }
  ]
}
AI can be wrong. Always verify against the paper.

AI-extracted fields are generated from the abstract and metadata and may be incomplete or incorrect. This material is for informational purposes and is not medical advice.

Identifiers and source

DOI: 10.1016/j.envres.2021.111283
PubMed: 34029549

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