Mobile phones cause cancer...or not

People using a mobile phone for more than 10 years have a 40 per cent increased chance of developing glioma (a kind of brain tumour), according to research reported in the Telegraph.

However, the study referenced would seem less clear-cut, and certainly the authors draw less compelling conclusions.

The study involved questioning 4,822 people, of whom 1,521 were glioma patients. The idea was to establish which hand the patients used to hold a phone, and thus which side of the head the phone was near. This data is then compared with the side of the head on which the glioma appeared.

Overall, the study found no evidence of mobile phone use influencing the incidence of glimoa, but if only those who had used a phone for more than 10 years are included (all 222 of them), there is a match at a level the report's authors describe as "of borderline statistical significance".

This could be down to the inaccurate memories of the subjects, statistical coincidence or, possibly, phones effecting glimoa. The report calls for more research. ®