Trends in Malignant and Benign Brain Tumor Incidence and Mobile Phone Use in the U.S. (2000–2021): A SEER-Based Study

Li Zhang and Joshua E. Muscat ()
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Li Zhang: Department of Public Health Sciences, Penn State College of Medicine, 500 University Drive, Hershey, PA 17033, USA
Joshua E. Muscat: Department of Public Health Sciences, Penn State College of Medicine, 500 University Drive, Hershey, PA 17033, USA

IJERPH, 2025, vol. 22, issue 6, 1-10

Abstract: (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 1985–2024. (3) Results: The APC for adolescents and adults was −0.6 ( p = 0.0004) for malignant tumors, −0.06 ( 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.

Keywords: brain cancer; incidence; time trends; mobile phone; SEER (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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