Article publication date
November 2025
ARPANSA review date
December 2025
Summary
This case-control study examined the association between mobile phone use and screen time and invasive breast cancer. The study included 226 women (77 cases, 97 controls and 52 unconfirmed cases) recruited from diagnostic, mammography, and radiotherapy centres across Iran. Mobile phone and screen use was assessed by structured questionnaires asking about mobile phone call duration, screen time, and phone placement. The study reported that women who spent more than 60 min per day in mobile phone conversations had higher odds of confirmed breast cancer (odds ratio (OR): 3.49, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.02–11.97).
Published in
Journal of Research in Medical Sciences
Link to study
Journal of Research in Medical Sciences
Commentary by ARPANSA
The study contains a significant error. In Table 2, the reported mobile phone use for cases and controls shows 94 cases and 77 controls; the number of cases and controls is inconsistent for other characteristics listed in Table 2 as well. However, the authors state elsewhere in the paper that they have 77 cases and 97 controls. It is unclear whether this discrepancy indicates that the case-control status of participants has been misclassified in the analysis or if this is a typological error. This may invalidate the results of the study.
All mobile phone use in the case-control study was self-reported, introducing recall bias as a source of uncontrolled error. This bias is possible, as cases may remember their phone use differently than controls following diagnosis. Additionally, selection bias may be present, as the authors provide no information regarding loss of subjects or participant exclusion, this means we are unable to assess how attrition may have influenced the outcome of the study.
One of the most comprehensive studies examining the association between mobile phone use and breast cancer is the UK Million Women Study (Benson et al 2013). This prospective cohort study collected data on mobile phone use from 489,769 women and found no evidence of an association between mobile phone use and breast cancer risk. Similarly, a recent systematic review commissioned by the World Health Organization (Karipidis et al., 2025) which evaluated all epidemiological evidence from 1988 to 2019 on mobile phones and cancer, also concluded that there is no association with breast cancer. Therefore, ARPANSA’s assessment is that the scientific evidence in its totality does not support an association between mobile phone use and breast cancer.
