Regarding Mobile Phones & Brain Tumours*

NOTE (advice of the Webpage Author; see relevant publications listed in the Bibliography, below): Use a landline, speaker-phone mode, or non-Blue tooth headset whenever possible. Texting is OK. Do NOT sleep with your cordless or mobile phone near your head. CHILDREN are likely to be at increased risk of any negative health effects of mobile phone technology. Mobile phone towers (base stations) should NOT be located on or near children's daycare facilities and schools, and should be at least 500 metres from residences and other sensitive/populated areas.

14 December 2011 (PRIMARY BRAIN TUMOUR INCIDENCE IN AUSTRALIA):

• A new multicentre Australian study reports a significant increase in primary brain cancer incidence between Jan 2000 & Dec 2008. For a PDF summary of the study, CLICK HERE (176K).
  • To download the official PDF of the peer-reviewed Surgical Neurology International publication (Part II of the study), CLICK HERE (2.2Mb)
  • To access the link to the peer-reviewed Neuro Oncology publication (Part I of the study), CLICK HERE.

29 November 2011 (UPDATE ON THE DANISH COHORT STUDY):

• The British Medical Journal has published the 2011 updated Danish mobile phone user cohort study. To access the downloadable paper, CLICK HERE. To access the several Letters to the Editor highlighting some of the substantial methodological limitations of that study, CLICK HERE. Letter from A/Prof Vini Khurana, CLICK HERE.

31 May 2011 (WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION CONFIRMS POSSIBLE LINK BETWEEN CELL PHONES & CANCER):

• The WHO's International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) has announced that there is sufficient evidence to support a possible link between cell phones and brain cancer. This represents a notable positional shift by the WHO. For relevant background information, See DEBATE and PEER-REVIEWED META-ANALYSIS (dowloadable PDF articles) below.
  • For the New York Times article related to the IARC Press Release (USA, 1 June 2011), CLICK HERE.
  • For the original Press Release from the IARC and other updates, CLICK HERE.

July 2010 (HEALTH RISKS OF MOBILE PHONE BASE STATIONS):

• A peer-reviewed journal article concerning the health effects of mobile phone base stations - i.e., the flat-panel antennae frequently found near or on sensitive sites such as shops, homes, schools, daycare centers, and hospitals.
  • International Journal of Occupational & Environmental Health (2010. Vol. 16; pp 263-266): CLICK HERE for a link to the abstract of this Journal article. To download the article, CLICK HERE (PDF: 228K).

May 2010 (THE "INTERPHONE" STUDY ON MOBILE PHONES AND BRAIN TUMOURS):

• The following reports regarding the World Health Organization's 13-nation "INTERPHONE" study have emerged:
  • The Sunday Times (UK, 16 May 2010): CLICK HERE
  • The Australian (Australia, 17 May 2010): CLICK HERE
  • The Wall Street Journal (USA, 29 May 2010): CLICK HERE
  • The actual peer-reviewed INTERPHONE manuscript published in the International Journal of Epidemiology, can be accessed by CLICKING HERE
  • Also CLICK HERE for New York Times Health Section's Tara Parker Pope's article regarding the possible link between cell phones and brain tumors (USA, 3 June 2008; PDF: 544K).

2008-2009 (CELL PHONES & BRAIN TUMOURS):

• Dr Lennart Hardell (Sweden) first reported the link between mobile (and home cordless) phone usage and brain tumours.
• DEBATE: The possible association between cell phones and brain tumours has been debated. For an example of a published debate, CLICK HERE [Point/counterpoint. There is currently enough evidence and technology available to warrant taking immediate steps to reduce exposure of consumers to cell-phone-related electromagnetic radiation. Khurana VG, Moulder JE, Orton CG. Med Phys. 2008 Dec;35(12):5203-6 (PDF: 104K)].
• In 2008 & 2009, with the new availability of longer "followup" data, four independent groups of researchers published peer-reviewed papers supporting the conclusion that prolonged usage of mobile phones can increase the risk of the user developing a brain tumour on the same side of the head as that used for mobile telephony:
  • Peter Kan et al. [USA] in Journal of Neurooncology (2008)
  • Vini Khurana et al. [Australia, Austria & Sweden] in Surgical Neurology (2009)
  • Yueh-Ying Han et al. [USA] in Surgical Neurology (2009)
  • Seung-Kwon Myung et al. [Korea & USA] in Journal of Clinical Oncology (2009).
• PEER-REVIEWED META-ANALYSIS: For a PDF of the peer-reviewed article by V.G. KHURANA (Neurosurgeon, Australia), C. TEO (Neurosurgeon, Australia), M. KUNDI (Epidemiologist, Vienna), L. HARDELL (Oncologist & Epidemiologist, Sweden), and M. CARLBERG (Statistician, Sweden), CLICK HERE (PDF: 400K).
• Investigative Journalist Ticky Fullerton's comprehensive report on the cell phone-brain tumour debate. CLICK HERE for footage (courtesy Lateline - ABC/Australia).
• 60 Minutes Australia features the stories of two heavy long-term users of mobile phones with malignant brain tumours (includes interviews with two neurosurgeons). CLICK HERE for the Webpage.
• Larry King discusses the topic of mobile phones and brain tumors. The first half of the transcript features an interview with Dr Keith Black, neurosurgeon of the-late Johnnie Cochran. The second half features a debate with a panel from the US & Australia, including neurosurgeons Drs Vini Khurana (Australia) & Theodore Schwartz (USA). CLICK HERE to view the entire transcript (PDF courtesy CNN; Larry King Live).