title: A prospective investigation of height and prostate cancer risk.
abstract: Greater adult height, which reflects a combination of early nutrition, exposure to androgens, growth hormones, and other factors during growth and development, as well as heredity, has been associated with increased prostate cancer risk in several observational studies, but findings have been inconsistent. We examined this relationship in the Alpha-Tocopherol, Beta-Carotene Cancer Prevention Study cohort. At baseline, 29,119 Finnish male smokers 50 to 69 years old had height and weight measured by trained personnel, provided information on demographic, smoking, medical, and other characteristics, and completed an extensive diet history questionnaire. A total of 1,346 incident prostate cancer cases were identified during a follow-up period of up to 17.4 years (median, 14.1 years). In age-adjusted Cox proportional hazards models, the hazard ratios and 95% confidence intervals for prostate cancer according to increasing quintiles of height [<or=168, 169-171, 172-175, 176-178, and >178 cm] were 1.00 (reference), 1.11 (0.93-1.32), 1.11 (0.95-1.31), 1.30 (1.01-1.55), and 1.14 (0.96-1.35); P(trend) = 0.04. In analyses stratified by disease stage (available for 916 cases), a strong dose-response relationship was observed between greater height and advanced, but not earlier-stage, disease [tumor-node-metastasis stage III-IV, hazard ratio and 95% confidence interval for increasing quintiles of height: 1.77 (1.18-2.65), 1.82 (1.25-2.65), 1.93 (1.29-2.90), and 2.02 (1.37-2.97); P(trend) = 0.0008, P(interaction) = 0.002]. Our study provides additional evidence that increased height is a risk factor for prostate cancer and suggests that taller men are particularly susceptible to advanced disease.
authors.affiliation: Nutritional Epidemiology Branch, Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, National Cancer Institute, NIH, 6120 Executive Boulevard, EPS-3044, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA.
authors.forename: Jacqueline S P
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Sequoia
authors.forename: Margaret E
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: Wright
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: McCarron
authors.forename: Pirjo
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Pietinen
authors.forename: Philip R
authors.initials: PR
authors.lastname: Taylor
authors.forename: Jarmo
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Virtamo
authors.forename: Demetrius
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Albanes
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D001827:Body Height; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D013006:Growth Hormone / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009362:Neoplasm Metastasis; D016016:Proportional Hazards Models; D011446:Prospective Studies; D011471:Prostatic Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000208:ethnology / Q000209:etiology*; D012307:Risk Factors; D024502:alpha-Tocopherol / Q000378:metabolism; D019207:beta Carotene / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D019207:beta Carotene; D013006:Growth Hormone; D024502:alpha-Tocopherol