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Do Cellphones Cause Cancer? Maybe, in Some Rats, Anyway

"So far, we have not seen a higher cancer risk in people," said Dr. Otis Brawley of the American Cancer Society

The latest federal studies of cellphone radiation show that it might — in the highest doses for the longest period of time — cause a certain type of cancer in rats, NBC News reported.

But experts agree that the National Toxicology Program's finding, from reports released Friday, probably doesn't translate to people.

Male rats given high doses of cellphone radiation had a higher risk of schwannoma cancer in the nerves near the heart, but rats exposed to cellphone signals also lived longer, and were especially less prone to one kind of kidney disease.

“These draft reports are bound to create a lot of concern, but in fact they won't change what I tell people: the evidence for an association between cellphones and cancer is weak, and so far, we have not seen a higher cancer risk in people," said Dr. Otis Brawley of the American Cancer Society. "If there is a harm, it's minimal."

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