Exposure to Mobile Phones and Brain Neoplasm. A Meta – Analysis of Observational Studies from 2010 to 2016

Background/Aim: Carcinogenesis of electromagnetic fields due to mobile phone exposure is still a matter of controversy. IARC has considered electromagnetic fields in the group 2B as possibly carcinogenic to humans. Aim of this study was to analytically review the recent observational studies that tested the association between mobile phones and brain neoplasms. Methods: Studies from 2010 to 2016 in 9 electronic databases were searched with the following syntax: “electromagnetic fields” OR “mobile phone” AND “brain neoplasm” OR “brain cancer” OR “brain tumours. A total of 6316 abstracts were extracted and after removing duplicates and those that did not fufill the inclusion criteria seven case-control studies were selected; only one cohort study that filled the criteria but was not included because is still ongoing. Assessment criteria were frequency (once a week for at least 6 months), intensity (cumulative exposure >1000 hours), duration (>5 years) and laterality of tumour (ipsilateral o contralateral to...