Although being tall does not appear to influence the overall risk of prostate cancer, it may have a role in certain manifestations of the disease.
Researchers studied 34,268 men in America and Germany who were under trial for prostate, lung and colorectal cancer, to examine the relationship between prostate cancer and height. During follow-up lasting for as long as 9 years, 2,144 men developed prostate cancer. Anthropometric data, including the height and age of the participants was recorded.
The workers found that tallness was associated with increased risk for younger onset aggressive prostate cancer. Although cancer risk was not greater in tall men, the risk of having more aggressive prostate cancer tended to be greater in tall men. Compared to men who were around 5 feet 7 inches (170 cm or less), those who were taller than 6 feet 3 inches (190 cm or more) had a 39 percent higher risk for aggressive cancer. This risk, however, was largely confined to men younger than 65 years of age and the number of cases was small with risk estimates somewhat unstable.
Nevertheless, the researchers concluded that there might be biologic factors in common that lead both to tallness and prostate cancer later in life.