title: Height, body mass index, and ovarian cancer: a pooled analysis of 12 cohort studies.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Although many studies have investigated the association between anthropometry and ovarian cancer risk, results have been inconsistent.
  
  
  METHODS
  The associations of height, body mass index (BMI), and ovarian cancer risk were examined in a pooled analysis of primary data from 12 prospective cohort studies from North America and Europe. The study population consisted of 531,583 women among whom 2,036 epithelial ovarian cancer cases were identified. To summarize associations, study-specific relative risks (RR) were estimated using the Cox proportional hazards model and then combined using a random-effects model.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Women with height > or =1.70 m had a pooled multivariate RR of 1.38 [95% confidence interval (95% CI), 1.16-1.65] compared with those with height <1.60 m. For the same comparison, multivariate RRs were 1.79 (95% CI, 1.07-3.00) for premenopausal and 1.25 (95% CI, 1.04-1.49) for postmenopausal ovarian cancer (P(interaction) = 0.14). The multivariate RR for women with a BMI > or =30 kg/m(2) was 1.03 (95% CI, 0.86-1.22) compared with women with a BMI from 18.5 to 23 kg/m(2). For the same comparison, multivariate RRs were 1.72 (95% CI, 1.02-2.89) for premenopausal and 1.07 (95% CI, 0.87-1.33) for postmenopausal women (P(interaction) = 0.07). There was no statistically significant heterogeneity between studies with respect to height or BMI. BMI in early adulthood was not associated with ovarian cancer risk.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Height was associated with an increased ovarian cancer risk, especially in premenopausal women. BMI was not associated with ovarian cancer risk in postmenopausal women but was positively associated with risk in premenopausal women.
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology, GROW-School for Oncology and Developmental Biology, Maastricht University, Maastricht, The Netherlands. lj.schouten@epid.unimaas.nl
authors.forename: Leo J
authors.initials: LJ
authors.lastname: Schouten
authors.forename: Christine
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Rivera
authors.forename: David J
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Hunter
authors.forename: Donna
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authors.lastname: Spiegelman
authors.forename: Hans-Olov
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authors.lastname: Adami
authors.forename: Alan
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authors.lastname: Arslan
authors.forename: W Lawrence
authors.initials: WL
authors.lastname: Beeson
authors.forename: Piet A
authors.initials: PA
authors.lastname: van den Brandt
authors.forename: Julie E
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Buring
authors.forename: Aaron R
authors.initials: AR
authors.lastname: Folsom
authors.forename: Gary E
authors.initials: GE
authors.lastname: Fraser
authors.forename: Jo L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Freudenheim
authors.forename: R Alexandra
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Goldbohm
authors.forename: Susan E
authors.initials: SE
authors.lastname: Hankinson
authors.forename: James V
authors.initials: JV
authors.lastname: Lacey
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Leitzmann
authors.forename: Annekatrin
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Lukanova
authors.forename: James R
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Marshall
authors.forename: Anthony B
authors.initials: AB
authors.lastname: Miller
authors.forename: Alpa V
authors.initials: AV
authors.lastname: Patel
authors.forename: Carmen
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Rodriguez
authors.forename: Thomas E
authors.initials: TE
authors.lastname: Rohan
authors.forename: Julie A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Ross
authors.forename: Alicja
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Wolk
authors.forename: Shumin M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Stephanie A
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Smith-Warner
mesh_terms: D001827:Body Height; D015992:Body Mass Index; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D015337:Multicenter Studies as Topic; D010051:Ovarian Neoplasms / Q000209:etiology*; D017698:Postmenopause; D017697:Premenopause; D016016:Proportional Hazards Models; D012306:Risk