Height linked to prostate cancer growth

BRISTOL, England, Sept. 4 (UPI) -- A man's height is a modest marker for prostate cancer risk but is more strongly linked to progression of the cancer, British researchers suggest.

Twelve researchers at four universities in England studied more than 9,000 men with and without prostate cancer and estimated that the risk of developing the disease rises by about 6 percent for every 10 centimeters, or 3.9 inches, in height a man is over the shortest group of men in the study.

Lead author Luisa Zuccolo of the University of Bristol said a man who is 1 foot taller than the shortest person in the study would have a 19-percent increased risk of developing the disease.

However, this increased risk is a lot less than those linked with other established risk factors, such as age, family history of the disease and race, therefore, the researchers don't suggest that taller men be screened more often than is typical or that their cancer treatment be altered.

The findings are published in the Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention.