Epidemiological study (observational study)

Mobile phone use and risk of parotid gland tumor epidem.

By: Lönn S, Ahlbom A, Christensen HC, Johansen C, Schüz J, Edstrom S, Henriksson G, Lundgren J, Wennerberg J, Feychting M

Published in: Am J Epidemiol 2006; 164 (7): 637-643

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Aim of study (acc. to author)

A population-based case-control study was conducted in Denmark and Sweden to test the hypothesis that long-term use of mobile phones increases the risk of parotid gland tumors.

Further details

Regular use of mobile phone was defined as use of a mobile phone on average once per week during 6 months or more one year prior diagnosis.
The study is based on the Danish and Swedish parts of the INTERPHONE project (publications 11887, 10496, 11648, and 9105).

Endpoint/type of risk estimation

parotid gland tumor

Type of risk estimation:

incidence

(odds ratio (OR))

Exposure

- mobile communications
- mobile phone
- analog mobile phone
- digital mobile phone
- GSM
- NMT
- personal

Assessment

interview: regular use of mobile phone, type, time since first regular use, use in urban or rural areas, side of head on which the phone is mainly used
calculation: cumulative number of hours of mobile phone use and cumulative number of mobile phone calls

Exposure groups

Group	Description
Reference group 1	never or nonregular use
Group 2	regular use
Group 3	duration of use < 5 years
Group 4	duration of use 5-9 years
Group 5	duration of use ≥ 10 years
Group 6	time since first regular use < 5 years
Group 7	time since first regular use 5-9 years
Group 8	time since first regular use ≥ 10 years
Group 9	cumulative use < 30 hours
Group 10	cumulative use 30-449 hours
Group 11	cumulative use ≥ 450 hours
Group 12	cumulative number of calls ≤ 624
Group 13	cumulative number of calls 625-7349
Group 14	cumulative number of calls ≥ 7350
Reference group 15	ipsilateral exposure: no use or contralateral use
Group 16	ipsilateral exposure: regular use
Reference group 17	contralateral exposure: no use or ipsilateral use
Group 18	contralateral exposure: regular use

Population

Group:
- men
- women
Age: 20–69 years
Observation period: September 2000 - August 2002
Study location: Denmark, Sweden (Lund, Göteborg and Stockholm areas)

Case group

Characteristics: malignant parotid gland tumor and benign pleomorphic adenoma
Data source: cancer registries; all clinics in Stockholm and Göteborg municipalities for benign cases
Exclusion criteria: deafness, lacking intellectual or lingual skills

Control group

Selection:
- population-based
Matching:
- sex
- age
- area

Study size

	Cases	Controls
Eligible	199	966
Participants	172	681
Participation rate	85 %	70 %

Other:

60 cases of malignant parotid gland tumors, 112 cases of benign pleomorphic adenomas

Statistical analysis method:

unconditional logistic regression

(adjustment:

5-year age group
sex
residential area
country, educational level

)

Results (acc. to author)

No increased risk for regular mobile phone use and parotid gland tumors was observed, regardless of duration. The risk estimate did not increase with the amount of use nor for use mainly in rural or urban areas. Analyses of digital and analog mobile phone use separately did not show any increased risks.
The results do not support the hypothesis that exposure to electromagnetic fields generated by mobile phones increase the risk of malignant or benign parotid gland tumors.

Study funded by

European Union (EU)/European Commission
International Union against Cancer (UICC; Union Internationale Contre le Cancer), Switzerland
Swedish Research Council (VR)

Comments on this article

Milham S (2007): Re: "mobile phone use and risk of parotid gland tumor"

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