Page 36 - Contributed Paper Session (CPS) - Volume 6

CPS1483 Ken Karipidis et. al

4. Discussion and Conclusion
The results of our study showed that the overall brain tumour rates in adults
aged 20 to 59 years showed no increasing or decreasing trend. This is in line
with studies showing stable brain tumour trends in other countries.(6)
Furthermore, the trends in our study were stable for different histological
types, like glioma, which has been reported in some case-control studies as
being associated with mobile phone use.(2, 3) The all glioma incidence rates
were stable in both the periods before (1982-1992, 1993-2002) and the period
after (2003-2013) substantial mobile phone use. For a causal relationship
between mobile phone use and brain cancer, one would expect an increasing
trend in the later period and no trend in the earlier periods.
In our study there was an increasing trend for glioblastoma when looking
at the entire observation period (1982-2013). However, when looking at
different time periods there was no increase in the glioblastoma rates during
the period of substantial mobile phone use but there was an increase in the
glioblastoma rates in the earlier periods: 1982-1992 (non-statistically
significant increase), which saw increased use of CT and MRI, and, 1993-2002
(statistically significant increase) which saw further advances in MRI.
Technological developments in MRI during 1993-2002, including diffusion and
perfusion imaging, improved significantly the discrimination of brain tumour
types and sub-types.(9) Other factors, such as improved access to care and an
increase in the number of specialists, may also have played a role in the
increase.(5)
The results on anatomical location showed that there was an increase in
gliomas located in the temporal and parietal lobes prior to the period of
substantial mobile phone use, but not during it. Cardis et al (2008) reported
that depending on the type of mobile phone and the manner in which it is

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