Height-related risk factors for prostate cancer

Previous studies have reported that adult height is positively associated w ith the risk of prostate cancer. The authors carried out a population-based case-control study involving 317 prostate cancer cases and 480 controls to further investigate the possibility that height is more strongly associate d with advanced, compared with localized forms of this disease. Since the i nherited endocrine factors, which in part determine height attained during the growing years, may influence the risk of familial prostate cancer later in life, the relationship with height was also investigated for familial v ersus sporadic prostate cancers. Adult height was not related to the risk o f localized prostate cancer, but there was a moderate positive association between increasing height and the risk of advanced cancer (relative risk (R R) = 1.62; 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.97-2.73, upper versus lowest quar tile, P-trend = 0.07). Height was more strongly associated with the risk of prostate cancer in men with a positive family history compared with those reporting a negative family history. The RR of advanced prostate cancer for men in the upper height quartile with a positive family history was 7.41 ( 95% CI 1.68-32.67, P-trend = 0.02) compared with a reference group comprise d of men in the shortest height quartile with a negative family history. Se rum insulin-like growth factor-1 levels did not correlate with height among st men with familiar or sporadic prostate cancers. These findings provide e vidence for the existence of growth-related risk factors for prostate cance r, particularly for advanced and familial forms of this disease. The possib le existence of inherited mechanisms affecting both somatic and tumour grow th deserves further investigation. (C) 2000 Cancer Research Campaign.