Tall women have higher cancer risk

Taller a woman, higher is her risk to get cancer, a recent research study has observed.

An analysis of more than 20,000 post-menopausal women showed that taller the woman, higher are her risks to get cancers of the breast, skin and colon, among others.

This finding of being tall and increased risk of cancer may guide researchers to study if growth factors and hormones that influence height may also play a role in cancer.

Geoffrey Kabat, a researcher in Albert Einstein College of Medicine, New York, says, ‘we know cancer is a disease in which hormones and growth factors modify things. Height itself is not a risk factor, but it really appears to be a marker for one or more exposures that influence cancer risk’.

What it means is that though we should continue to take steps to prevent cancer, tall women should be more aggressive about it.

Dr. Ajay Sati.