Height and risk of prostate cancer in the prostate, lung, colorectal, and ovarian cancer screening trial.
BACKGROUND
The relationship between prostate cancer and height is uncertain.


METHODS
We prospectively examined the association of height with prostate cancer among 34,268 men in the prostate, lung, colorectal, and ovarian cancer trial. Anthropometry was assessed at baseline and 2144 incident prostate cancer cases were identified upto 8.9 years of follow-up.


RESULTS
Overall, tallness was not associated with the risk of prostate cancer or with the risk of non-aggressive disease, but the risk for aggressive prostate cancer tended to be greater in taller men (Gleason score > or = 7 or stage > or = III; P trend=0.05; relative risk (RR) for 190 cm + vs < or = 170 cm = 1.39, 95% confidence interval (95% CI): 0.96-2.01). This association was largely limited to men below the age of 65 years (P trend=0.008; RR for 190 cm + vs < or = 170 cm = 1.76, 95% CI: 1.06-2.93; P for interaction=0.009), although the number of cases was small and risk estimates were somewhat unstable.


CONCLUSIONS
The results of this large prospective prostate cancer screening trial suggest that tallness is associated with increased risk for younger onset aggressive prostate cancer.
Ahn
J
J
Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, National Cancer Institute, NIH, DHHS, Bethesda, MD 20852, USA. Jiyoung.Ahn@NYUMC.org
Moore
S C
SC
Albanes
D
D
Huang
W-Y
WY
Leitzmann
M F
MF
Hayes
R B
RB
D000368:Aged; D001827:Body Height; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D015179:Colorectal Neoplasms / Q000209:etiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010051:Ovarian Neoplasms / Q000209:etiology*; D011446:Prospective Studies; D011471:Prostatic Neoplasms / Q000209:etiology*; D012306:Risk