Purpose

The association between the use of mobile phones use and the risk of brain cancer remains controversial. The aim of this study is to describe trends in the incidence of central nervous system (CNS) cancers in Spain and its possible relationship with mobile phone use.

Methods

Trends and trend changes from 1985 to 2015 in adjusted incidence rates of CNS cancers by sex, age (adults and children), site, and histological type were assessed using data from 14 general and paediatric cancer registries.

Results

The study included 20,325 CNS malignancies in adults and 2,372 in children. For adults, the overall rate of malignant brain tumours showed a slight increase of 0.2% (95% CI: 0.1 – 0.4) per year. This increase was concentrated in the early years up to 1996 (1.7% per year, 95% CI: 0.9 – 2.6) followed by 20 years of a non-significant slight decline of -0.1% (95% CI: -0.4 – 0.1) per year until 2015. In children, an increase of 7.6% (95% CI: 2.4 – 13.1) per year until 1991 followed by a decrease of -1.0% (95%CI: -1.7 – -0.3) per year until 2015 was observed. This increase in the incidence in 1980s and early 1990s could be explained by diagnostic improvements especially in imaging techniques implemented during these years.

Conclusion

The present findings do not support a possible relationship between the use of mobile phones and the incidence of malignant brain tumours. However, the possibility of the presence of a weak correlation or that a longer latency period would be needed to observe a possible ecological correlation cannot be discarded.