{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,8]],"date-time":"2026-10-08T22:03:47Z","timestamp":1791497027633,"version":"4.3.4"},"reference-count":55,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"6","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,6,13]],"date-time":"2025-06-13T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1749772800000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["IJERPH"],"abstract":"<jats:p>(1) Background: There has been an ongoing concern for several decades that radiofrequencies emitted from mobile phones are related to brain cancer risk. We calculated temporal trends in brain cancer incidence rates in adults and children and compared them to mobile phone subscription data over the same time period. (2) Methods: We analyzed the Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results (SEER 22) cancer database between 2000 and 2021. Age-standardized incidence rates (ASR) per 100,000 people were calculated and the annual percentage change (APC) for malignant and benign brain cancer and vestibular schwannomas (acoustic neuromas of the 8th cranial nerve) was established. The total number of mobile phone subscriptions in the United States was plotted for the period 1985\u20132024. (3) Results: The APC for adolescents and adults was \u22120.6 (p = 0.0004) for malignant tumors, \u22120.06 (p = 0.551) for temporal lobe tumors, and 1.9 (p = 0.00003) for benign tumors. The APC for benign acoustic neuroma was 0.09 (p = 0.8237), suggesting that mobile phone use is unlikely to be associated with this tumor type. There was a 1200-fold increase in the number of cell phone subscriptions during this period. (4) Conclusions: These findings suggest that mobile phone use does not appear to be associated with an increased risk of brain cancer, either malignant or benign.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/ijerph22060933","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,6,13]],"date-time":"2025-06-13T06:19:28Z","timestamp":1749795568000},"page":"933","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":7,"title":["Trends in Malignant and Benign Brain Tumor Incidence and Mobile Phone Use in the U.S. (2000\u20132021): A SEER-Based Study"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"22","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-4953-7012","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Li","family":"Zhang","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Public Health Sciences, Penn State College of Medicine, 500 University Drive, Hershey, PA 17033, USA"},{"name":"Center for Research on Tobacco and Health, Penn State Cancer Institute, Pennsylvania State University, Hershey, PA 17033, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-0867-423X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Joshua E.","family":"Muscat","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Public Health Sciences, Penn State College of Medicine, 500 University Drive, Hershey, PA 17033, USA"},{"name":"Center for Research on Tobacco and Health, Penn State Cancer Institute, Pennsylvania State University, Hershey, PA 17033, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,6,13]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"A422","DOI":"10.1289\/ehp.116-a422","article-title":"Strong signal for cell phone effects","volume":"116","author":"Mead","year":"2008","journal-title":"Environ. Health Perspect."},{"key":"ref_2","first-page":"27","article-title":"Mobile phone use and risk for intracranial tumors and salivary gland tumors\u2014A meta-analysis","volume":"30","author":"Bortkiewicz","year":"2017","journal-title":"Int. J. Occup. Environ. Health"},{"key":"ref_3","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"189","DOI":"10.1080\/09553000500091097","article-title":"Mobile phones, mobile phone base stations and cancer: A review","volume":"81","author":"Moulder","year":"2005","journal-title":"Int. J. Radiat. Biol."},{"key":"ref_4","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1534","DOI":"10.1289\/ehp.1103693","article-title":"Mobile phones, brain tumors, and the interphone study: Where are we now?","volume":"119","author":"Swerdlow","year":"2011","journal-title":"Environ. Health Perspect."},{"key":"ref_5","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"221","DOI":"10.1146\/annurev-publhealth-040218-044037","article-title":"Brain and Salivary Gland Tumors and Mobile Phone Use: Evaluating the Evidence from Various Epidemiological Study Designs","volume":"40","author":"Lagorio","year":"2019","journal-title":"Annu. Rev. Public Health"},{"key":"ref_6","unstructured":"National Cancer Institute (2024, May 01). Cell Phones and Cancer Risk, Available online: https:\/\/www.cancer.gov\/about-cancer\/causes-prevention\/risk\/radiation\/cell-phones-fact-sheet."},{"key":"ref_7","unstructured":"American Chemical Society (2024, April 01). Cellular (Cell) Phones. Available online: https:\/\/www.cancer.org\/cancer\/risk-prevention\/radiation-exposure\/cellular-phones.html."},{"key":"ref_8","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1865","DOI":"10.3892\/ijo.2015.2908","article-title":"Mobile phone radiation causes brain tumors and should be classified as a probable human carcinogen (2A) (review)","volume":"46","author":"Morgan","year":"2015","journal-title":"Int. J. Oncol."},{"key":"ref_9","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"808","DOI":"10.1001\/jama.2011.186","article-title":"Effects of cell phone radiofrequency signal exposure on brain glucose metabolism","volume":"305","author":"Volkow","year":"2011","journal-title":"JAMA"},{"key":"ref_10","unstructured":"(2024, April 15). Specific Absorption Rate (SAR) for Cell Phones\u2014What It Means for You?, Available online: https:\/\/www.fcc.gov\/consumers\/guides\/specific-absorption-rate-sar-cell-phones-what-it-means-you."},{"key":"ref_11","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"108910","DOI":"10.1016\/j.radphyschem.2020.108910","article-title":"Empirical study on specific absorption rate of head tissues due to induced heating of 4G cell phone radiation","volume":"178","author":"Christopher","year":"2021","journal-title":"Radiat. Phys. Chem."},{"key":"ref_12","first-page":"101374","article-title":"Wireless technologies, non-ionizing electromagnetic fields and children: Identifying and reducing health risks","volume":"53","author":"Davis","year":"2023","journal-title":"Curr. Probl. Pediatr. Adolesc. Health Care"},{"key":"ref_13","unstructured":"International Agency for Research on Cancer (2013). Non-Ionizing Radiation, Part 2: Radiofrequency Electromagnetic Fields. International Agency for Research on Cancer Monographs on the Evaluation of Carcinogenic Risks to Humans, International Agency for Research on Cancer. Available online: https:\/\/www.iarc.who.int\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/pr208_E.pdf."},{"key":"ref_14","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"842","DOI":"10.1038\/sj.bjc.6602764","article-title":"Mobile phone use and risk of acoustic neuroma: Results of the Interphone case-control study in five North European countries","volume":"93","author":"Schoemaker","year":"2005","journal-title":"Br. J. Cancer"},{"key":"ref_15","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"5","DOI":"10.3892\/ijo_00000307","article-title":"Mobile phones, cordless phones and the risk for brain tumours","volume":"35","author":"Hardell","year":"2009","journal-title":"Int. J. Oncol."},{"key":"ref_16","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1465","DOI":"10.3892\/ijo.2011.947","article-title":"Pooled analysis of case-control studies on malignant brain tumours and the use of mobile and cordless phones including living and deceased subjects","volume":"38","author":"Hardell","year":"2011","journal-title":"Int. J. Oncol."},{"key":"ref_17","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"631","DOI":"10.1136\/oemed-2011-100155","article-title":"Risk of brain tumours in relation to estimated RF dose from mobile phones: Results from five Interphone countries","volume":"68","author":"Cardis","year":"2011","journal-title":"Occup. Environ. Med."},{"key":"ref_18","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"79","DOI":"10.1056\/NEJM200101113440201","article-title":"Cellular-telephone use and brain tumors","volume":"344","author":"Inskip","year":"2001","journal-title":"N. Engl. J. Med."},{"key":"ref_19","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"3001","DOI":"10.1001\/jama.284.23.3001","article-title":"Handheld cellular telephone use and risk of brain cancer","volume":"284","author":"Muscat","year":"2000","journal-title":"JAMA"},{"key":"ref_20","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1304","DOI":"10.1212\/WNL.58.8.1304","article-title":"Handheld cellular telephones and risk of acoustic neuroma","volume":"58","author":"Muscat","year":"2002","journal-title":"Neurology"},{"key":"ref_21","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"514","DOI":"10.1136\/oemed-2013-101754","article-title":"Mobile phone use and brain tumours in the CERENAT case-control study","volume":"71","author":"Coureau","year":"2014","journal-title":"Occup. Environ. Med."},{"key":"ref_22","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"108552","DOI":"10.1016\/j.envint.2024.108552","article-title":"Mobile phone use and brain tumour risk\u2014COSMOS, a prospective cohort study","volume":"185","author":"Feychting","year":"2024","journal-title":"Environ. Int."},{"key":"ref_23","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"d6387","DOI":"10.1136\/bmj.d6387","article-title":"Use of mobile phones and risk of brain tumours: Update of Danish cohort study","volume":"343","author":"Frei","year":"2011","journal-title":"BMJ"},{"key":"ref_24","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"704","DOI":"10.1093\/jnci\/djac042","article-title":"Cellular Telephone Use and the Risk of Brain Tumors: Update of the UK Million Women Study","volume":"114","author":"Pirie","year":"2022","journal-title":"J. Natl. Cancer Inst."},{"key":"ref_25","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"55","DOI":"10.1159\/000094381","article-title":"Mobile telephones and rates of brain cancer","volume":"27","author":"Muscat","year":"2006","journal-title":"Neuroepidemiology"},{"key":"ref_26","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"e024489","DOI":"10.1136\/bmjopen-2018-024489","article-title":"Mobile phone use and incidence of brain tumour histological types, grading or anatomical location: A population-based ecological study","volume":"8","author":"Karipidis","year":"2018","journal-title":"BMJ Open"},{"key":"ref_27","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"The INTERPHONE Study Group (2010). Brain tumour risk in relation to mobile telephone use: Results of the INTERPHONE international case-control study. Int. J. Epidemiol., 39, 675\u2013694.","DOI":"10.1093\/ije\/dyq079"},{"key":"ref_28","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"The INTERPHONE Study Group (2011). Acoustic neuroma risk in relation to mobile telephone use: Results of the INTERPHONE international case-control study. Cancer Epidemiol., 35, 453\u2013464.","DOI":"10.1016\/j.canep.2011.05.012"},{"key":"ref_29","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1147","DOI":"10.1093\/neuonc\/noq077","article-title":"Brain cancer incidence trends in relation to cellular telephone use in the United States","volume":"12","author":"Inskip","year":"2010","journal-title":"Neuro-Oncol."},{"key":"ref_30","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"629","DOI":"10.1002\/bem.22373","article-title":"Mobile Phone Use and Time Trend of Brain Cancer Incidence Rate in Korea","volume":"42","author":"Choi","year":"2021","journal-title":"Bioelectromagnetics"},{"key":"ref_31","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"526","DOI":"10.1093\/aje\/kwi091","article-title":"Long-term mobile phone use and brain tumor risk","volume":"161","author":"Ahlbom","year":"2005","journal-title":"Am. J. Epidemiol."},{"key":"ref_32","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"107487","DOI":"10.1016\/j.envint.2022.107487","article-title":"Time trends in mobile phone use and glioma incidence among males in the Nordic Countries, 1979\u20132016","volume":"168","author":"Deltour","year":"2022","journal-title":"Environ. Int."},{"key":"ref_33","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"102234","DOI":"10.1016\/j.canep.2022.102234","article-title":"Trends in brain cancers (glioma) in New Zealand from 1995 to 2020, with reference to mobile phone use","volume":"80","author":"Elwood","year":"2022","journal-title":"Cancer Epidemiol."},{"key":"ref_34","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"223","DOI":"10.1007\/s11060-015-1827-9","article-title":"Incidence of vestibular schwannomas in the United States","volume":"124","author":"Kshettry","year":"2015","journal-title":"J. Neuro-Oncol."},{"key":"ref_35","unstructured":"National Cancer Institute (2024, April 22). About Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results Program (SEER), Available online: https:\/\/seer.cancer.gov\/."},{"key":"ref_36","unstructured":"National Cancer Institute (2024, April 19). About the SEER Registries, Available online: https:\/\/seer.cancer.gov\/registries\/."},{"key":"ref_37","unstructured":"(2024, April 10). Site Recode ICD-O-3\/WHO 2008 Edition, Available online: https:\/\/seer.cancer.gov\/siterecode\/icdo3_dwhoheme\/index.html."},{"key":"ref_38","unstructured":"World Bank Group (2024, April 28). The US Bureau of Economic Analysis of US Cellular Phone Subscription Using Open World Bank Data. Available online: https:\/\/data.worldbank.org\/indicator\/IT.CEL.SETS.P2?locations=US."},{"key":"ref_39","unstructured":"National Cancer Institute (2024, May 01). Surveillance Research Program, National Cancer Institute SEER*Stat Software, Available online: https:\/\/seer.cancer.gov\/seerstat."},{"key":"ref_40","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"e40704","DOI":"10.2196\/40704","article-title":"Youth Perspectives on the Recommended Age of Mobile Phone Adoption: Survey Study","volume":"5","author":"Richter","year":"2022","journal-title":"JMIR Pediatr. Parent."},{"key":"ref_41","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"2017","DOI":"10.1503\/cmaj.111-2088","article-title":"Latency period of radiation-induced cancer","volume":"183","author":"Fraser","year":"2011","journal-title":"CMAJ"},{"key":"ref_42","unstructured":"National Cancer Institute. Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) Program (2024, April 18). SEER*Stat Database: Incidence\u2014SEER Research Limited-Field Data, 22 Registries, Nov 2023 Sub (2000\u20132021)\u2014Linked To County Attributes\u2014Time Dependent (1990\u20132022) Income\/Rurality, 1969\u20132022 Counties, National Cancer Institute, DCCPS, Surveillance Research Program, Released April 2024, Based on the November 2023 Submission, Available online: https:\/\/seer.cancer.gov\/data-software\/documentation\/seerstat\/nov2022\/."},{"key":"ref_43","unstructured":"(2024, May 01). U.S. Population, Available online: https:\/\/www.census.gov\/popclock\/."},{"key":"ref_44","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"6458","DOI":"10.1002\/cam4.2516","article-title":"Trends in intracranial meningioma incidence in the United States, 2004\u20132015","volume":"8","author":"Lin","year":"2019","journal-title":"Cancer Med."},{"key":"ref_45","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"i44","DOI":"10.1093\/neuonc\/noy143","article-title":"Imaging and diagnostic advances for intracranial meningiomas","volume":"21","author":"Huang","year":"2019","journal-title":"Neuro-Oncol."},{"key":"ref_46","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"843","DOI":"10.1001\/jama.2019.11456","article-title":"Trends in Use of Medical Imaging in US Health Care Systems and in Ontario, Canada, 2000\u20132016","volume":"322","author":"Kwan","year":"2019","journal-title":"JAMA"},{"key":"ref_47","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"444","DOI":"10.1080\/02688697.2020.1856784","article-title":"Wireless phone use and adult meningioma risk: A systematic review and Meta-analysis","volume":"35","author":"Chen","year":"2021","journal-title":"Br. J. Neurosurg."},{"key":"ref_48","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Uddin, M., Dhanta, R., Pitti, T., Barsasella, D., Scholl, J., Jian, W.-S., Li, Y.-C., Hsu, M.-H., and Syed-Abdul, S. (2023). Incidence and Mortality of Malignant Brain Tumors after 20 Years of Mobile Use. Cancers, 15.","DOI":"10.3390\/cancers15133492"},{"key":"ref_49","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"108983","DOI":"10.1016\/j.envint.2024.108983","article-title":"The effect of exposure to radiofrequency fields on cancer risk in the general and working population: A systematic review of human observational studies\u2014Part I: Most researched outcomes","volume":"191","author":"Karipidis","year":"2024","journal-title":"Environ. Int."},{"key":"ref_50","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1264","DOI":"10.1093\/jnci\/djr244","article-title":"Mobile phone use and brain tumors in children and adolescents: A multicenter case-control study","volume":"103","author":"Aydin","year":"2011","journal-title":"J. Natl. Cancer Inst."},{"key":"ref_51","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"160","DOI":"10.1097\/00004032-199802000-00002","article-title":"Differences in energy absorption between heads of adults and children in the near field of sources","volume":"74","author":"Burkhardt","year":"1998","journal-title":"Health Phys."},{"key":"ref_52","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"2741","DOI":"10.1088\/1361-6560\/aa5c2d","article-title":"Mobile phone types and SAR characteristics of the human brain","volume":"62","author":"Lee","year":"2017","journal-title":"Phys. Med. Biol."},{"key":"ref_53","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1281","DOI":"10.1109\/TEMC.2015.2433314","article-title":"SAR Comparison of SAM Phantom and Anatomical Head Models for a Typical Bar-Type Phone Model","volume":"57","author":"Lee","year":"2015","journal-title":"IEEE Trans. Electromagn. Compat."},{"key":"ref_54","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Wake, K., Arima, T., Watanabe, S., and Taki, M. (2011, January 13\u201320). SAR distributions in a child head phantom in the vicinity of recent mobile phones. Proceedings of the 2011 XXXth URSI General Assembly and Scientific Symposium, Istanbul, Turkey.","DOI":"10.1109\/URSIGASS.2011.6051394"},{"key":"ref_55","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Li, N., Mo, Y., Huang, C., Han, K., He, M., Wang, X., Wen, J., Yang, S., Wu, H., and Dong, F. (2021). A Clinical Semantic and Radiomics Nomogram for Predicting Brain Invasion in WHO Grade II Meningioma Based on Tumor and Tumor-to-Brain Interface Features. Front. Oncol., 11.","DOI":"10.3389\/fonc.2021.752158"}],"container-title":["International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/1660-4601\/22\/6\/933\/pdf","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,9]],"date-time":"2025-10-09T17:51:22Z","timestamp":1760032282000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/1660-4601\/22\/6\/933"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2025,6,13]]},"references-count":55,"journal-issue":{"issue":"6","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,6]]}},"alternative-id":["ijerph22060933"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/ijerph22060933","relation":{},"ISSN":["1660-4601"],"issn-type":[{"value":"1660-4601","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2025,6,13]]}}}