Why Taller People are at Greater Risk of Cancer ?

In various studies, it has been determined that taller people (both men and women) have higher rates of cancer and cancer death compared to shorter people. Again, it is calculated that the current incidence of cancer worldwide would be 10-15% less, were it not for the increase in height ratios seen in the last century (mentioned above).

It has been determined that the average height of the society increased by 1 cm every 10 years in the 20th century in European societies. In Korea, in the last 50 years, the average height has increased by 2 cm every 10 years."

In a South Korean study by Choi et al., published in the British Journal of Cancer in 2019, 23 million adults were investigated in terms of height and cancer incidence between 2009 and 2012.

Estimates are made in more than 750,000 people in a 5-year follow-up. In the examination, it was determined that each 5 cm increase in height increases the risk of cancer by 9%. As a result of this study,  thyroid, breast, lymph, testis, brain, intraoral, thyroid, breast, lung, prostate, examination, stomach, large intestine, prostate, ovary, testis, cervix, uterus, skin, lymph gland cancers are determined more common in taller people.

Only that the incidence of cancers in the eating areas did not differ between tall and short people.

Why is cancer more common in tall people? 

2 reasons for this are the most mentioned factor;

1-Insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) is higher in tall people both in childhood and in adulthood. IGF-1 stimulates cell proliferation and suppresses the natural death of the cell (apoptosis). In different previous studies; It has been determined that there is a relationship between the development of colon, lung, breast and prostate cancers and increased IGF-1.

2-Another reason is that people with taller stature have more stem cells because of the larger internal organ volume. Stem cells are cells that have a high dividing potential and therefore a high potential to turn into cancer.

Prof.Hakan Karagöl, MD
Medical Oncologist

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