Women's height linked to cancer

Being tall is often seen as an asset – but according to a new study, the taller a woman is the greater her cancer risk.
Research published in The Lancet Oncology journal and funded by Cancer Research UK and the UK Medical Research Council, suggests that regardless of age, alcohol intake, body-mass index or socio-economic group, taller women are more at risk of many types of cancer.
Height has been linked to cancer before but this is the first mass study. It followed more than one million British women who registered between 1996 and 2001. About 97,000 of these women had developed cancer 10 years later. The study found that for every 10cm of height, the risk of cancer increased by 16 per cent.
The Dominion Post canvassed Wellington women of a range of heights yesterday.
Hospitality worker Amelia Smith is 1.92 metres tall (6 feet 3 inches) and so, according to the findings, had about a 35 per cent greater risk of suffering from cancer than a woman of average height – 1.65m, or 5ft4in, in New Zealand.
She said the recent death of her aunt from cancer had made her more aware of the disease and this would just be one more thing to be aware of. "This might be more of a motivation not to put off the tests and regular health checks."
Standing slightly shorter at 1.8m (5ft11in), Janet Sweet said she was quite blown away by the study as her height had never been a bad thing in her life.
Student Annabel Hawkins is 1.67m (5ft5in) and said the research was good to hear for people of her height but a bit scary for taller people.
It came as good news for lecturer Juliet Reynolds-Midgley, as she was only 1.62m (5ft3in), though she said she had seen many studies blaming cancer on different things and took it with a grain of salt.
The study associated height with 10 different cancers: colon, rectum, melanoma, breast, kidney, ovary, endometrium, central nervous system, non-Hodgkin lymphoma and leukaemia.
The Cancer Society was looking at the research with interest but advised tall people not to despair.
Health promotion manager Jan Pearson, who is 1.65m tall, said there were definite risks related to body size. New Zealanders were quite tall by global standards because of better nutrition, among other factors. "The research shows a correlation, but not the cause. It is of interest and more research is needed, but tall people should follow the regular health guidelines."
One possibility for the findings is that taller people have more cells, so greater opportunity for mutations. Another possibility could lie in hormone levels in early life linked to adult height.