Taller People At Higher Risk For Cancer

You know what they say - height matters.

Findings from the study conducted by Swedish researchers confirm previous studies that have linked a person's height to his or her chances of acquiring cancer.

"This study confirms what other studies have shown," says the American Cancer Society's Susan Gapstur, who is independent of the study - noting a previous research linking colon cancer and height.

As a data gathering method, the researchers analyzed data of more than five million Swedish men and women, CBS reports.

The study's lead researcher Dr. Emelie Benyi of the Karolinska Institute in Solna, Sweden says in a news release to the endocrinology society, as per CBS: "To our knowledge, this is the largest study performed on linkage between height and cancer including both women and men."

Director of the Wolfson Institute of Preventive Medicine, Queen Mary University of London, Prof Jack Cuzick, affirms the importance of the study noting that while the association between and cancer has been around for some time, Benyi and team's study would be providing much-needed highlights in a "population-based setting."

CBS reports that the researchers began by analyzing data of 5.5 million Swedish-born individuals between 1938 and 1991, tracking their health beginning from when they were 20 years old (1958) up to 2011. The study reveals the subjects' height range to be from "about 3 feet 3 inches to slightly more than 7 feet."

Benyi and colleagues report, as told by CBS, that an 18% cancer risk for women and 11% risk for men is estimated for every 4 additional inches of adult height. Taller women, in addition, has a 20 percent greater risk of developing breast cancer. Moreover, taller men  and women has a 30 percent risk of having skin cancer (melanoma), according to BBC.

Benyi explains that there are possible reasons for the percentages computed. "One is that taller people have a larger number of cells in their body which could potentially transform to cancer. It could also be that taller individuals have a higher energy intake which has previously been linked to cancer," she notes as per The Guardian.

Gapstur, however, reminds that the findings merely show an association and emphasized that a person's height is not an absolute determining factor. "Being tall doesn't mean that you will develop cancer," she says, as quoted by CBS.

Benyi confirms this in a statement saying: "As the cause of cancer is multifactorial, it is difficult to predict what impact our results have on cancer risk at the individual level."

Cancer Research UK Health Information Manager Sarah Williams informs as per BBC that the study failed to include health factors such as smoking or women's breast examinations. "Whatever your height, there are lots of things you can do to reduce the risk of cancer - not smoking, cutting down on alcohol, eating healthily, being active, having a healthy weight and enjoying the sun safely can each help you stack the odds against the disease," she advises.

According to CBS, the results of Benyi and team's study will be presented on Thursday at the annual meeting of the European Society for Pediatric Endocrinology in Barcelona, Spain.