MedWire News: Tall men might be at a slightly increased risk for the progression of prostate cancer, according to the results of a study published in the journal Cancer Epidemiology Biomarkers and Prevention.

But authors Dr Luisa Zuccolo (University of Bristol, UK) and colleagues emphasize that height has only a very modest affect on disease risk and progression compared with other markers for prostate cancer such as age, family history of the disease or race.

Dr Zuccolo and team studied over 9000 British men with and without prostate cancer. These men were either already enrolled in a study to assess prostate cancer treatments or part of a database of 58 published studies showing a link between height and prostate cancer.

The team found that the odds of developing prostate cancer rose by 1.06 times (around 6%) for every 10-cm increase in height. There was an even stronger association between increased height and development of advanced prostate cancer.

"This suggests that an increase in height is more strongly linked to prostate cancer progression," explain Dr Zuccolo and colleagues.

Although the investigators are uncertain of the mechanisms behind this increased risk, they say that factors associated with an increase in height and not height itself might ultimately be responsible for the small increase in disease risk.

"We do not believe that being taller should interfere with preventive or clinical decisions in managing prostate cancer, such as increased screening frequency," conclude the researchers. Rather, the findings open a new line of scientific inquiry for determining unidentified markers for disease risk, they add.