Fears over mobile phone use as brain cancers rise

FRESH fears have been raised over the role of mobile phones in brain cancer after evidence revealed rates of a malignant type of tumour have doubled in the past two decades.

Charities and scientists called on the Government to heed long-standing warnings about the dangers of radiation after a fresh analysis revealed a more “alarming” trend in cancers than previously thought. However, the study, published in the Journal of Public Health and Environment, has stoked controversy, with some experts saying it could be caused by other factors.

The research team set out to investigate the rise of an aggressive and often fatal type of brain tumour known as glioblastoma multiforme (GBM).

They analysed 79,241 malignant brain tumours over 21 years, finding that cases of GBM in England have increased from around 1,250 a year in 1995 to just under 3,000.

The scientists at the Physicians’ Health Initiative for Radiation and Environment (PHIRE) say the increase of GBM has until now been masked by the overall fall in incidence of other types of brain tumour.

Last night the group said the increasing rate of tumours in the frontal temporal lobe “raises the suspicion that mobile and cordless phone use may be promoting gliomas”. Prof Denis Henshaw, scientific director of Children with Cancer UK, which is allied to PHIRE, said: “Our findings illustrate the need to look more carefully at, and to try to explain the mechanisms behind, these cancer trends, instead of brushing the causal factors under the carpet and focusing only on cures.”

In 2015 the European Commission scientific committee on emerging and newly identified health risks concluded that, overall, studies on cell phone radiation exposure do not show an increased risk of brain tumours or other head and neck cancers.

This was despite a study published the previous year indicating long-term use tripled the risk of brain cancer, although this contradicted other studies.

Cancer Research UK said it was “unlikely” that mobile phones increased the risk of brain tumours, however “we do not know enough to completely rule out a risk”. Kevin Mcconway, emeritus professor of applied statistics at The Open University, said: “It’s important, though, to understand that this new paper did not examine any new data at all about potential causes for the increase.”

The study lists causal factors aside from mobile phone use, including radiation from X-rays, CT scans and the fallout from atomic bomb tests in the atmosphere.