title: The INTERPHONE study: design, epidemiological methods, and description of the study population.
abstract: The very rapid worldwide increase in mobile phone use in the last decade has generated considerable interest in the possible health effects of exposure to radio frequency (RF) fields. A multinational case-control study, INTERPHONE, was set-up to investigate whether mobile phone use increases the risk of cancer and, more specifically, whether the RF fields emitted by mobile phones are carcinogenic. The study focused on tumours arising in the tissues most exposed to RF fields from mobile phones: glioma, meningioma, acoustic neurinoma and parotid gland tumours. In addition to a detailed history of mobile phone use, information was collected on a number of known and potential risk factors for these tumours. The study was conducted in 13 countries. Australia, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Israel, Italy, Japan, New Zealand, Norway, Sweden, and the UK using a common core protocol. This paper describes the study design and methods and the main characteristics of the study population. INTERPHONE is the largest case-control study to date investigating risks related to mobile phone use and to other potential risk factors for the tumours of interest and includes 2,765 glioma, 2,425 meningioma, 1,121 acoustic neurinoma, 109 malignant parotid gland tumour cases and 7,658 controls. Particular attention was paid to estimating the amount and direction of potential recall and participation biases and their impact on the study results.
authors.affiliation: International Agency for Research on Cancer, 150 Cours Albert Thomas, 69372, Lyon, Cedex 08, France. cardis@iarc.fr
authors.forename: Elisabeth
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Cardis
authors.forename: Lesley
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authors.lastname: Richardson
authors.forename: Isabelle
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authors.lastname: Deltour
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authors.lastname: Feychting
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authors.lastname: Vrijheid
authors.forename: Anssi
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authors.lastname: Blettner
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authors.forename: Julianne
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authors.lastname: Chetrit
authors.forename: Helle Collatz
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authors.forename: Sarah
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authors.lastname: Hepworth
authors.forename: Graham
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authors.lastname: Giles
authors.forename: Martine
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authors.lastname: Hours
authors.forename: Ivano
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authors.lastname: Iavarone
authors.forename: Avital
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authors.lastname: Jarus-Hakak
authors.forename: Lars
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authors.lastname: Klaeboe
authors.forename: Daniel
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Krewski
authors.forename: Susanna
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Lagorio
authors.forename: Stefan
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authors.lastname: Lönn
authors.forename: Simon
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authors.lastname: Mann
authors.forename: Mary
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authors.lastname: McBride
authors.forename: Kenneth
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authors.lastname: Muir
authors.forename: Louise
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authors.lastname: Nadon
authors.forename: Marie-Elise
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: Parent
authors.forename: Neil
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authors.lastname: Pearce
authors.forename: Tiina
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authors.lastname: Salminen
authors.forename: Minouk
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authors.lastname: Schoemaker
authors.forename: Brigitte
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authors.lastname: Schlehofer
authors.forename: Jack
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authors.lastname: Siemiatycki
authors.forename: Masao
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authors.lastname: Taki
authors.forename: Toru
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authors.lastname: Takebayashi
authors.forename: Tore
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authors.lastname: Tynes
authors.forename: Martie
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authors.lastname: van Tongeren
authors.forename: Paolo
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authors.lastname: Vecchia
authors.forename: Joe
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authors.lastname: Wiart
authors.forename: Alistair
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authors.lastname: Woodward
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mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D040421:Cell Phone / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D019049:Developed Countries; D004812:Epidemiologic Methods; D015340:Epidemiologic Research Design; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology; D011846:Radio Waves / Q000009:adverse effects*; D018570:Risk Assessment