Taller women may be at a slightly higher risk of ovarian cancer, according to a report published in the British Medical Journal this month.
Valerie Beral, University of Oxford professor and director of its Cancer Epidemiology Unit, reviewed and compiled findings from 47 epidemiological studies which examined more than 25,000 cases of women with ovarian cancer and more than 80,000 women who did not have ovarian cancer.
The report found a 7 percent increase in ovarian cancer risk for every 5-centimeter increase in height. The results of this study are particularly important given that the average height of women is increasing by one centimeter each decade. Still, the absolute cancer risk in taller women in comparison to shorter women remains quite small: 16 in 1000 shorter women developed cancer compared to 20 in 1000 taller women.
The study also linked a higher female body mass index (BMI) to an increased likelihood of contracting ovarian cancer.
-compiled by Blythe Fiscella
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