Height and site-specific cancer risk: A cohort study of a korean adult population.
To evaluate the association between height and risk of cancer in an East Asian, middle-income population, the authors followed up a cohort of 788,789 Koreans (449,214 men and 339,575 women) aged 40-64 years for cancer incidence between 1994 and 2003. Cox proportional hazards regression analysis was used to evaluate the association. Each 5-cm increment in height was associated with 5% and 7% higher risk of all-sites cancer in men and women, respectively, after adjustment for age, body mass index, and behavioral and socioeconomic factors. When the associations were evaluated for site-specific cancers, a positive association was observed for cancer of the colon and thyroid in both men and women. Among gender-specific cancers, prostate cancer was positively associated with height in men. In women, there was a positive association between height and cancers of the breast and ovary, which did not change even after additional adjustment for reproductive factors. Although more clarification is needed for some site-specific cancers, the same positive association of height with cancer in a middle-income Korean population as found in high-income Western populations supports the influence of early life environment on cancer development in adulthood.
Sung
Joohon
J
Department of Epidemiology, Institute of Health and Environment, Seoul National University, South Korea.
Song
Yun-Mi
YM
Lawlor
Debbie A
DA
Smith
George Davey
GD
Ebrahim
Shah
S
D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D001827:Body Height; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D007723:Korea / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009017:Morbidity / Q000639:trends; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000453:epidemiology*; D016016:Proportional Hazards Models; D012042:Registries / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors; D012737:Sex Factors; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D015996:Survival Rate / Q000639:trends