Use of Mobile and Cordless Phones and the Association with Prostate Cancer

Author(s): Lennart Hardell, Michael Carlberg

Exposure to radiofrequency (RF) radiation in the frequency range 30 kHz–300 GHz was in 2011 evaluated by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) at the World Health Organization (WHO) to be a ‘possible’ human carcinogen, Group 2B. This was based on epidemiological results on increased risk for glioma and acoustic neuroma. Results on other cancer types are sparse. An increased incidence in male rats of proliferative lesions in the prostate gland induced by RF radiation was found in the US NTP study. Thus, it was pertinent to study an association with prostate cancer in human studies. We analyzed data in two of our previous studies, one on brain tumors (only deceased subjects; those who died from prostate cancer were defined as cases) and another on prostate cancer (living subjects) that included similar questions on use of mobile phones or cordless phones. The pooled analysis gave for mobile phone use OR = 1.8, 95 % CI = 1.01-3.1, increasing in the >10 year latency group to OR = 2.8, 95 % CI = 1.5-5.3. Also, use of the cordless phone gave increased risk, although not statistically significant. Dose-response analysis gave highest risk for >2,000 h use of the mobile phone with OR = 2.4, 95 % CI = 1.2-5.1. The cordless phone yielded highest risk in the group 1001-2000 h with OR = 2.3, 95 % CI = 1.01-5.4. Lower OR was seen for use > 2,000 h but based on low numbers. Higher risk was seen in cases with more aggressive cancer based on Gleason score, PSA, and high risk profile, and among subjects with heredity for prostate cancer.