Researchers say cellphones don't give you cancer; expert not convinced

Do smartphones and cellphones give you cancer? We'd said it before, and the answer is no, the risk for cancer does not increase merely due to the use of cellphones. A study conducted by the scientists at University of Sydney, titled "Has the incidence of brain cancer risen in Australia since the introduction of mobile phones 29 years ago?" came up with this revelation based on data collected by the Australian National Cancer Registry.

According to Australian law, all cancer diagnoses need to be registered, and when the a team of researchers from the University of Sydney sifted through the data, they found that the number of brain cancer incidences between 1982 and 2013 hadn't increased in any age group except those aged 70-84. They also found that the number of cases diagnosed in the aforementioned age group, the increasing trend of brain cancer diagnoses began in 1982, before mobile phones were introduced.

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The study, published in Cancer Epidemiology, saw the data between 1987 and 2014 being studied, when cellphones had begun to become popular. "We found no increase in brain cancer incidence compatible with the steep increase in mobile phone use," the researchers reported, attributing the increasing trend discovered among the elderly to better diagnostic detection.

"The radiation from cell phones is non-ionising, so it is highly unlikely to cause cancer," lead researcher Simon Chapman told Medscape Medical News.

However, Lennart Hardell, from the Department of Oncology at University Hospital in Örebro, Sweden, believes the results aren't conclusive enough.

"We have consistently found an increased risk for high-grade glioma, including the most malignant type, glioblastoma multiforme grade IV, and use of wireless phones," Medscape Medical News quoted Dr Hardnell as saying. According to him, since the study doesn't touch upon high-grade glioma located in the temporal or frontal lobe, it makes the study "not very informative."