Microwave News reports British newspaper the Daily Telegraph used material from its website to publish an alleged exclusive report that cell phone use increases the risk of developing a brain tumour.

The British newspaper report was followed up by the Herald Sun in Australia. The newspaper ran the headline: “Cancer link to mobiles” on page four and claimed that Interphone “has found a link between long-term mobile phone use and brain tumours”.

The GSMA Environment Insider this week quotes Microwave News saying:

‘…In fact, the Telegraph had no scoop. Its reporters did not have an advance copy of the Interphone brain tumor paper. The story was mostly a rehash of what has already been disclosed - a lot of it a long time ago. For instance, quotes from Elisabeth Cardis, the head of Interphone, which ran three paragraphs on the front page, were exactly the same as had been reported in Microwave News back in June 2008.’

The harshest criticism of the Telegraph came from the Karolinska Institute's Maria Feychting, who leads the Swedish Interphone group, reports Microwave News.

"It's unethical and astounding for this to be in the press before the study is completely and fully analyzed," she told the Expressen, a Swedish tabloid.

Feychting also voiced her disagreement with the substance of the Telegraph's story. "There is no indication that cell phones pose any health risk over the short term," she said. "In the long run, that is, for more than ten years, the data are less reliable."