Mobile phone use and brain tumour risk – COSMOS, a prospective cohort study

Abstract

Mobile phone use and brain tumour risk – COSMOS, a prospective cohort study (My note: Numerous methodological problems undermine the validity of the results and conclusions of this study.) Feychting M, Schüz J, Toledano MB, Vermeulen R, Auvinen A, Poulsen AH, Deltour I, Smith RB, Heller J, Kromhout H, Huss A, Johansen C, Tettamanti G, Elliott P. Mobile phone use and brain tumour risk – COSMOS, a prospective cohort study. Environment International. 2024, doi: 10.1016/j.envint.2024.108552. Abstract Background: Each new generation of mobile phone technology has triggered discussions about potential carcinogenicity from exposure to radiofrequency electromagnetic fields (RF-EMF). Available evidence has been insufficient to conclude about long-term and heavy mobile phone use, limited by differential recall and selection bias, or crude exposure assessment. The Cohort Study on Mobile Phones and Health (COSMOS) was specifically designed to overcome these shortcomings. Methods: We recruited participants in Denmark, Finland, the Netherlands, Sweden, and the UK 2007- 2012. The baseline questionnaire assessed lifetime history of mobile phone use. Participants were followed through population-based cancer registers to identify glioma, meningioma, and acoustic neuroma cases during follow-up. Non-differential exposure misclassification was reduced by adjusting estimates of mobile phone call-time through regression calibration methods based on self-reported data and objective operator-recorded information at baseline. Hazard ratios (HR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) for glioma, meningioma, and acoustic neuroma in relation to lifetime history of mobile phone use were estimated with Cox regression models with attained age as the underlying time-scale, adjusted for country, sex, educational level, and marital status. Results: 264,574 participants accrued 1,836,479 person-years. During a median follow-up of 7.12 years, 149 glioma, 89 meningioma, and 29 incident cases of acoustic neuroma were diagnosed. The adjusted HR per 100 regression-calibrated cumulative hours of mobile phone call-time was 1.00 (95 % CI 0.98- 1.02) for glioma, 1.01 (95 % CI 0.96-1.06) for meningioma, and 1.02 (95 % CI 0.99-1.06) for acoustic neuroma. For glioma, the HR for ≥ 1908 regression-calibrated cumulative hours (90th percentile cut- point) was 1.07 (95 % CI 0.62-1.86). Over 15 years of mobile phone use was not associated with an increased tumour risk; for glioma the HR was 0.97 (95 % CI 0.62-1.52). Conclusions: Our findings suggest that the cumulative amount of mobile phone use is not associated with the risk of developing glioma, meningioma, or acoustic neuroma. Open access paper: sciencedirect.com Supplementary material: sciencedirect.com

AI evidence extraction

Main findings

In 264,574 participants (1,836,479 person-years), adjusted hazard ratios per 100 regression-calibrated cumulative hours of mobile phone call-time were 1.00 (95% CI 0.98–1.02) for glioma, 1.01 (95% CI 0.96–1.06) for meningioma, and 1.02 (95% CI 0.99–1.06) for acoustic neuroma. For glioma, the HR for ≥1908 cumulative hours was 1.07 (95% CI 0.62–1.86), and >15 years of use had HR 0.97 (95% CI 0.62–1.52).

Outcomes measured

• Glioma
• Meningioma
• Acoustic neuroma

Limitations

• Exposure assessment based on baseline questionnaire self-report; regression calibration used to adjust call-time using operator-recorded information at baseline (details not provided in abstract).
• Median follow-up 7.12 years; limited information in abstract on very long latency periods.
• Relatively small number of cases for acoustic neuroma (29) and meningioma (89), leading to imprecise estimates in higher exposure categories (e.g., wide CI for glioma at ≥1908 hours).

Suggested hubs

• who-icnirp (0.35)
  Large prospective cohort on RF-EMF from mobile phones and cancer risk; relevant to major health risk assessments.

{
    "study_type": "cohort",
    "exposure": {
        "band": "RF",
        "source": "mobile phone",
        "frequency_mhz": null,
        "sar_wkg": null,
        "duration": "Lifetime history; median follow-up 7.12 years; assessed cumulative call-time and years of use (e.g., >15 years)"
    },
    "population": "Participants recruited in Denmark, Finland, the Netherlands, Sweden, and the UK (2007–2012)",
    "sample_size": 264574,
    "outcomes": [
        "Glioma",
        "Meningioma",
        "Acoustic neuroma"
    ],
    "main_findings": "In 264,574 participants (1,836,479 person-years), adjusted hazard ratios per 100 regression-calibrated cumulative hours of mobile phone call-time were 1.00 (95% CI 0.98–1.02) for glioma, 1.01 (95% CI 0.96–1.06) for meningioma, and 1.02 (95% CI 0.99–1.06) for acoustic neuroma. For glioma, the HR for ≥1908 cumulative hours was 1.07 (95% CI 0.62–1.86), and >15 years of use had HR 0.97 (95% CI 0.62–1.52).",
    "effect_direction": "no_effect",
    "limitations": [
        "Exposure assessment based on baseline questionnaire self-report; regression calibration used to adjust call-time using operator-recorded information at baseline (details not provided in abstract).",
        "Median follow-up 7.12 years; limited information in abstract on very long latency periods.",
        "Relatively small number of cases for acoustic neuroma (29) and meningioma (89), leading to imprecise estimates in higher exposure categories (e.g., wide CI for glioma at ≥1908 hours)."
    ],
    "evidence_strength": "moderate",
    "confidence": 0.7800000000000000266453525910037569701671600341796875,
    "peer_reviewed_likely": "yes",
    "keywords": [
        "COSMOS",
        "prospective cohort",
        "mobile phone",
        "radiofrequency electromagnetic fields",
        "RF-EMF",
        "brain tumour",
        "glioma",
        "meningioma",
        "acoustic neuroma",
        "regression calibration",
        "operator-recorded data",
        "cancer registry"
    ],
    "suggested_hubs": [
        {
            "slug": "who-icnirp",
            "weight": 0.34999999999999997779553950749686919152736663818359375,
            "reason": "Large prospective cohort on RF-EMF from mobile phones and cancer risk; relevant to major health risk assessments."
        }
    ]
}

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