Introduction: The use of cellular telephones has been suggested to increase the risk of cancer.
Material and methods: We carried out a retrospective cohort study of the incidence of cancer in all 420,095 users of cellular telephones during the period of 1982 to 1995.
Results: Overall, 3391 cancers were found, with 3825 expected, which yielded a significantly decreased standardised incidence ratio of 0.89. No increased incidence was seen for cancers of the brain or nervous system, of the salivary gland or for leukaemia, cancers which were of a priori interest.
Discussion: The results do not support the hypothesis of an association between the use of these telephones and tumours of the brain or salivary gland, leukaemia, or other cancers.