Mobile phone use and risks of overall and 25 site-specific cancers: a prospective study from the UK Biobank Study

Abstract

Mobile phone use and risks of overall and 25 site-specific cancers: a prospective study from the UK Biobank Study Zhang Y, Zhang Y, Ye Z, Yang S, Liu M, Wu Q, Zhou C, He P, Gan X, Qin X. Mobile phone use and risks of overall and 25 site-specific cancers: a prospective study from the UK Biobank Study. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev (2023). doi: 10.1158/1055-9965.EPI-23-0766/729762. Abstract Background: The association between mobile phone use and incident cancers remains uncertain. We aimed to investigate the relationships of mobile phone use with incident overall and 25 site-specific cancers in men and women. Methods: 431,861 participants aged 38-73 years without prior cancers were included from the UK Biobank. Of these, 46.7% were male. Participants who used a mobile phone at least once per week to make or receive calls were defined as mobile phone users. The study outcomes were incident overall and 25 site-specific cancers. Results: During a median follow-up of 10.7 years, 35,401 (17.5%) men and 30,865 (13.4%) women developed overall cancer. Mobile phone use was significantly associated with higher risks of incident overall cancer (HR, 1.09; 95%CI: 1.06-1.12), nonmelanoma skin cancer (NMSC) (HR, 1.08; 95%CI: 1.03-1.14), urinary tract cancer (HR, 1.18; 95%CI:1.05-1.32) and prostate cancer (HR, 1.19; 95%CI: 1.13-1.25) in men, and incident overall cancer (HR, 1.03; 95%CI: 1.00-1.06), NMSC (HR, 1.07; 95%CI: 1.01-1.13), and vulva cancer (HR,1.74; 95%CI: 1.00- 3.02) in women, but not with other cancers. Among mobile phone users, there was a dose-response relationship of length of mobile phone use with incident NMSC in men and women, and prostate cancer in men (all P for trend<0.05). Conclusions: There was a dose-response relationship of length of mobile phone use with incident NMSC in men and women, and prostate cancer in men. Impact: Our findings underscore the importance of limiting mobile phone use or keeping a distance from mobile phone for primary prevention of NMSC and prostate cancer. Excerpts Among mobile phone users, there was a significantly positive dose-response relationship of length of mobile phone use (≤1, 2-4, 5-8, and >8 years) with incident overall cancer in both men (P for trend <0.001) and women (P for trend =0.025), incident NMSC in both men (P for trend <0.001) and women (P for trend =0.004), and prostate cancer (P for trend <0.001) in men (Table 2), but not with urinary tract cancer in men and vulva cancer in women (Table 2). There was only a slight difference in follow-up time among different groups of length of mobile phone use (all differences < 0.5 year; Supplemental Table 9), so the groups classified by length of mobile phone use based on baseline assessments should not have changed substantially during follow-up. In addition, treating length of mobile phone use as a time-dependent variable did not significantly change the results (Supplemental Table 10).... Findings of the current study imply a possible causal relationship of mobile phone use with incident NMSC and prostate cancer: (1) Dose-response relationship of anatomical distance: skin is the first organ to be exposed to RF-EMF. When carrying a mobile phone on the belt or in a pants pocket, it is closer to the prostate. Previous studies have shown that the distance of the source of RF-EMF from the tissue or organ is one of the determinants of corresponding specific absorption rate 21, 22, and thus the relatively close distance of skin and prostate with mobile phones may partly explain the observed increase risks of NMSC and prostate cancer; (2) Temporal relationship: there was a significant association of mobile phone use at baseline with the risks of NMSC and prostate cancer during the 10.7 years of follow-up; (3) Dose-response relationship of exposure time: among mobile phone users, there was a significantly positive dose-response relationship of length of mobile phone use with incident NMSC and prostate cancer. In addition, we found that length of mobile phone use, rather than weekly usage of mobile phone, was associated with incident cancers, suggesting that long-term exposure to RF-EMF might be more important in terms of the risk of incident cancers than short-term, high dose exposure to RF-EMF from making or receiving calls. However, more studies are needed to further confirm our results and elucidate the underlying biological mechanisms.... In conclusion, the current study found that there was a positive dose-response relationship between length of mobile phone use and risk of incident NMSC in both men and women and prostate cancer in men. The potential association of mobile phone use with the risk of urinary tract cancer in men and vulva cancer in women needs to be further verified. If further confirmed, our findings underscore the importance of limiting mobile phone use or keeping a distance from mobile phone for primary prevention of NMSC and prostate cancer in the general population. aacrjournals.org risks-of-overall-and-25-site

AI evidence extraction

Main findings

Over a median 10.7 years follow-up, mobile phone use (≥1 call/week) was associated with higher risk of incident overall cancer in men (HR 1.09, 95% CI 1.06–1.12) and women (HR 1.03, 95% CI 1.00–1.06), and higher risk of NMSC in men (HR 1.08, 95% CI 1.03–1.14) and women (HR 1.07, 95% CI 1.01–1.13). In men, mobile phone use was also associated with urinary tract cancer (HR 1.18, 95% CI 1.05–1.32) and prostate cancer (HR 1.19, 95% CI 1.13–1.25); in women, with vulva cancer (HR 1.74, 95% CI 1.00–3.02). Among mobile phone users, length of mobile phone use showed dose-response relationships with incident NMSC (men and women) and prostate cancer (men) (P for trend <0.05).

Outcomes measured

• Incident overall cancer
• 25 site-specific cancers (not individually listed in abstract)
• Nonmelanoma skin cancer (NMSC)
• Urinary tract cancer (men)
• Prostate cancer (men)
• Vulva cancer (women)

Limitations

• Exposure definition based on baseline self-reported mobile phone use (≥1 call/week) and length of use categories; detailed exposure metrics (e.g., frequency, SAR) not provided in abstract
• Associations were not observed for other cancers (not specified), indicating outcome-specific findings
• For some site-specific cancers (e.g., urinary tract in men, vulva in women), dose-response by length of use was not observed per excerpt

Suggested hubs

• mobile-phones (0.95)
  Exposure is mobile phone use for calls and length of use in a large prospective cohort.

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    "study_type": "cohort",
    "exposure": {
        "band": "RF",
        "source": "mobile phone",
        "frequency_mhz": null,
        "sar_wkg": null,
        "duration": "Mobile phone use (≥1 call/week vs non-use); length of mobile phone use categories (≤1, 2–4, 5–8, >8 years)"
    },
    "population": "UK Biobank participants aged 38–73 years without prior cancers; men and women",
    "sample_size": 431861,
    "outcomes": [
        "Incident overall cancer",
        "25 site-specific cancers (not individually listed in abstract)",
        "Nonmelanoma skin cancer (NMSC)",
        "Urinary tract cancer (men)",
        "Prostate cancer (men)",
        "Vulva cancer (women)"
    ],
    "main_findings": "Over a median 10.7 years follow-up, mobile phone use (≥1 call/week) was associated with higher risk of incident overall cancer in men (HR 1.09, 95% CI 1.06–1.12) and women (HR 1.03, 95% CI 1.00–1.06), and higher risk of NMSC in men (HR 1.08, 95% CI 1.03–1.14) and women (HR 1.07, 95% CI 1.01–1.13). In men, mobile phone use was also associated with urinary tract cancer (HR 1.18, 95% CI 1.05–1.32) and prostate cancer (HR 1.19, 95% CI 1.13–1.25); in women, with vulva cancer (HR 1.74, 95% CI 1.00–3.02). Among mobile phone users, length of mobile phone use showed dose-response relationships with incident NMSC (men and women) and prostate cancer (men) (P for trend <0.05).",
    "effect_direction": "mixed",
    "limitations": [
        "Exposure definition based on baseline self-reported mobile phone use (≥1 call/week) and length of use categories; detailed exposure metrics (e.g., frequency, SAR) not provided in abstract",
        "Associations were not observed for other cancers (not specified), indicating outcome-specific findings",
        "For some site-specific cancers (e.g., urinary tract in men, vulva in women), dose-response by length of use was not observed per excerpt"
    ],
    "evidence_strength": "moderate",
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    "peer_reviewed_likely": "unknown",
    "keywords": [
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        "prospective cohort",
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        "RF-EMF",
        "cancer incidence",
        "nonmelanoma skin cancer",
        "prostate cancer",
        "urinary tract cancer",
        "vulva cancer",
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