Researchers at the Karolinska Institute (Sweden) carried out a study on 5 million participants born in Sweden between 1938 and 1991 whose health outcomes were followed from 1958 or from the age of 20, for younger people, to understand the link between height and the risk of developing cancer.
The conclusions of this large-scale study revealed that for every 10 cm more height, the risk of cancer would increase on average by 18% in women and 11% in men. A particularly strong association for melanoma, with an increased risk of 30% for every 10 cm of additional size.
“Our studies show that tall people are more likely to develop cancer, but it is not known whether these people also have a higher risk of death from cancer or from all causes,” concludes the lead author, Le Dr. Emelie Benyi (Karolinska Institute).
“Being tall does not mean that you will develop cancer”, reassure the researchers. “However, possible explanations can be put forward: height could be a marker of certain exposures at an early age and during life and is also a result of genetics. Size and risk of cancer could thus share common genetic and environmental factors ”.
A link already established
The results of this study confirm the conclusions of the research carried out by the Albert Einstein School of Medicine in New York and published in 2013 by the magazine of the American Cancer Association. They taught us that for every 10 cm more, women had an average 13% more risk of developing cancer. And that this risk increases from 13 to 17% for cancers of the skin, ovaries, breast, endometrium and colon. While there is between 23 and 29% more risk of developing kidney, rectal, thyroid and blood cancer.
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