Cell Phone Use And Brain Cancer

In what may be described as a failure, even the largest all-inclusive research conducted on the potential relation between use of cell phones and brain cancer thus far has failed to arrive at any firm conclusion. The decade-long research titled ‘Interphone’ is scheduled to be made public shortly in the International Journal of Epidemiology, was actually issued on last Sunday night.

The wide-ranging research tracked 10,000 people, which included people who used cell phones, non-users, patients who have survived brain cancer and survivors who never ever used cell phones.

It is interesting to note that during the course of their study, researchers detected that the majority of cell phone use was not responsible for the augmentation of glioma and meningioma - the two major as well as fatal forms of brain cancer. However, the findings of the research hinted that excessive use of cell phones is likely to increase the hazards of acquiring brain tumours. The research also revealed that people who conversed over the cell phone for an average of half an hour daily for more than 10 years were faced with an increased risk of developing glioma.

Notwithstanding these findings, at the end of the study, the researchers determined that the data collected by them was not sufficient to establish any relation between the cell phones and brain cancer. The scientists said that they were still uncertain regarding the reasons that lead to the inconsistency, but, at the same time, believed that the defective procedure or approach was liable for it. This was opined by Dr. Jack Siemiatycki, an epidemiologist serving at the Centre hospitalier de l'Université de Montréal Research Centre, who was also among the scientists who participated in the study ‘Interphone’.

The study found that people who used their cell phones too often were faced with about a 40 per cent greater risk of developing glioma in comparison to people who had never used a cell phone in their lifetime. In addition, the frequent cell phone users also faced two times more risk of developing tumours on the side of their head where they usually held their cell phone while chatting.

A statement issued by Dr Siemiatycki prior to making the findings of the research public said that limited accessibility to the subjects participating in the study actually decreased the soundness of the findings of the research. He was of the opinion that the findings of the research were vague, unexpected as well as perplexing.

According to Dr. Siemiatycki, another reason that hints why the sample was not sufficiently demonstrative is the fact that just around 50 to 60 per cent of appropriate subjects took part in the research. Consequently, it is likely that they have presented an erroneous representation of usage of cell phone among the patients enduring cancer and the people who were healthy. Moreover, Dr. Siemiatycki emphasized that stringent restrictions enforced by the ethics panels compelled the researchers to enlist subjects through the physicians and this could have also distorted the findings of the research.

The scientists emphasized that any hazards of acquiring cancer by means of using cell phones would be negligible and advised the apprehensive cell phone consumers to use hands-free headsets with a view to avoid the risks of developing tumours in the head or brain cancer.

Before concluding the discussion, it may be mentioned that the research was organized by an inter-governmental body that formed a part of the World Health Organization (WHO) of the United Nations - the International Agency for Research on Cancer. The study was conducted by scientists located in 13 different countries, which included Canada, Japan, France and the United Kingdom. The Canadian part of the study was organized in Quebec and was funded by the government-aided Canadian Institutes of Health Research. In fact, over a fourth of the total funding of the research that was to the tune of €19.2 million came from different industry sources.

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