Study: No Link Between Cell Phone Use and Cancer

Why More Research Is Needed

One weakness, though, was that the study used mobile phone contracts as a way to estimate use.

Just having a cell phone contract doesn't mean a person is using a phone regularly, and some people who don't have contracts will have pay-as-you-go phones.

"The resulting misclassification would dilute any association between mobile phone use and cancer risk, and this is important for a ... study like the current one," says Anders Ahlbom, professor of environmental medicine at Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, Sweden, in an editorial.

Researchers agree that this study should not be the final word.

"Our study can't answer all the questions," says Frei. For example, she says questions remain about risks associated with continued long-term use of cell phones, for longer than 20 years. And there's been little information about the use of cell phones in children, she says.

"We couldn't say that we've solved all the problems so far. I would still say that we have some limited evidence," she says.

For another perspective on the cell phone debate, read the commentary of Children's Health blogger Roy Benaroch.