Moving on from finger ratios ...
New study below [1]. Part of the "European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) cohort". "We investigated the association of height ... with incidence of and death from prostate cancer in 141,896 men".
"Height was not associated with total prostate cancer risk."
"Subgroup analyses showed heterogeneity in the association with height by tumour grade .., with a positive association with risk for high-grade but not low-intermediate-grade disease (HR for high-grade disease tallest versus shortest fifth of height, 1.54; ...)."
"Greater height was also associated with a higher risk for prostate cancer death (HR = 1.43 ...)."
...
Nothing new. The first such study twenty years ago, by Giovannucci (Health Professionals Follow-Up Study), reported that [2]:
"For the advanced lesions, an association was observed with height (RR = 1.68 ... for men 74 inches or taller, relative to men 68 inches or shorter ...)."
"In an analysis limited to particularly aggressive forms of prostate cancer, i.e., cases found to be metastatic at time of diagnosis between 1988 and 1994 after a negative digital rectal examination in 1988, we found that ... tallness had a strong direct association with risk of metastatic disease (RR = 2.29 ... for height > or = 74 inches versus < or = 68 inches)."
"Our findings suggest that the preadult hormonal milieu, as reflected in attained height ... may have a strong influence on prostate carcinogenesis."
...
It appears that exposure to growth hormones can create problems that show up fifty years later. Why that would affect the prostate is not explained.
An old study specifically associated less risk with being shorter. Trouble is, tall men get all the good management jobs. LOL not to mention the women!
Less cell division is safer. Young Dutch men are now among the tallest in the world - the average height is over 6 feet. Evidently, the diet maximizes growth hormone production. Would be interesting to see PCa rates in the first really tall Dutch generation, compared to the generation that came of age during the German occupation, when food was short.
-Patrick
