title: A meta-analysis on the relationship between exposure to ELF-EMFs and the risk of female breast cancer.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To comprehensively analyze the relationship between exposure to extremely low frequency electromagnetic fields (ELF-EMFs) and the development of female breast cancer.
  
  
  METHODS
  Reports of case-control studies published from 1990 to 2010 were analyzed. The quality effect model was chosen to calculate total odds ratio (OR) depending on the data in studies and quality scores. Subgroup analyses were also performed by the situation of menopause, estrogenic receptor and exposure assessment respectively.
  
  
  RESULTS
  For all 23 studies the OR was 1.07, 95% CI=1.02-1.13, for estrogen receptor positive subgroup,OR=1.11, 95% CI=1.03-1.20; for premenopausal subgroup, OR=1.11, 95% CI=1.00-1.23. The results of other subgroups showed no significant association between ELF-EMF and female breast cancer.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  ELF-EMFs might be related to an increased risk for female breast cancer, especially for premenopausal and ER+ females. However, it's necessary to undertake better epidemiologic researches to verify the association between ELF-EMF and female breast cancer due to the limits of current study, especially the one on exposure assessment.
authors.affiliation: Guangdong Prevention and Treatment Center for Occupational Diseases, Guangzhou, China.
authors.forename: Qingsong
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Li
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Lang
authors.forename: Wenzhe
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.forename: Guoyong
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.forename: Xiao
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Tao
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Hanlin
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Huang
mesh_terms: D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000209:etiology*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D015331:Cohort Studies; D004574:Electromagnetic Fields; D004781:Environmental Exposure; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D018570:Risk Assessment