Exp Ther Med 21:[Related article:] Article no. 23, 2021; DOI:
10.3892/etm.2020.9455
Following the publication of the above systematic
review and meta-analysis, an interested reader drew to the Editor’s
attention that there were potentially a number of concerns
associated with the eight source papers on which the study had been
based. Two of the studies were considered to have been based on 50
Hz electromagnetic fields and not on radiofrequency radiation;
furthermore, one reference used an inaccurate risk estimate for the
wrong exposure (shiftwork instead of RF), and one of the studies
was focused on male breast cancer (the others all being concerned
with female breast cancer).
These issues were drawn to the attention of the
authors, who did prepare a rebuttal in response to the reader’s
comments. Independently, the Editorial Board also conducted an
independent investigation of the reader’s claims, and reached the
conclusion that the sheer number of corrections that would have
been potentially required meant that it would not have been readily
feasible to publish a Corrigendum. Taking all the factors into
consideration, the Editor of Experimental and Therapeutic
Medicine has therefore decided that the article should be
retracted from the Journal on account of the number of
uncertainties associated with both the way in which the
meta-analysis had been performed and the source papers selected for
the study. Note that the authors were not in agreement with the
retraction of this paper. The Editor apologizes to the readership
of the Journal for any inconvenience caused by the retraction of
this article.
