Researchers Make the Height/Cancer Connection in Women

Being tall comes with health risks.

A new study from Oxford University has found taller women are more likely to get cancer than their shorter peersThe statuesque women in the study “had an increased risk of at least 10 types of cancer, including breast, skin, bowel, uterus, leukemia, and ovarian — a wider range than initially thought,”
With every four inches of height over five feet, cancer risk increased by 16 per cent. A woman who stands five-feet, nine-inches tall has a 33 per cent greater change of getting cancer than a woman who measures just five feet.

Why is being tall suddenly so scary?

Scientists have a few theories about the increased risk. Tall girls often begin puberty earlier “and this is when their bodies begin producing large amounts of the hormone estrogen, known to trigger the growth of tumours.” A growth-factor hormone could also play a role. Height is also dictated partly by genetics, so some cancers in tall women may be genetically caused. Nourishment can also play a part, both in height and in cancer risk. Furthermore, more height means more cells in the body, increasing the odds one of those cells will become cancerous.

The study is just the beginning. Height isn’t controllable, so it can’t serve as a what-not-to-do warning for women who want to decrease their cancer risk. Instead, it serves as a foundation for more investigation."This study is important in understanding how cancer develops (since) you can't do anything about your height," Jane Green, a clinical epidemiologist at the University of Oxford, said.

"And while we can’t control our height, there are many lifestyle choices people can make that we know have a greater impact on reducing the risk of cancer such as not smoking, moderating alcohol, keeping a healthy weight, and being physically active,” Sara Hion of Cancer Research U.K. told The Daily Mail.

Researchers don’t want the tall population to get too discouraged with these findings.

"Taller people tend to have been better nourished in childhood, they tend to have better immune systems and they tend to have lower rates of heart disease," Green said. "Generally speaking, it's a good thing to be tall. The cancer is just one aspect of it.”

The study only looked at the connections between height and cancer in middle-aged women. It’s not clear if the same holds true for tall men.