Scientists have found that the taller the man, the higher his risk of getting prostate cancer. For every extra four inches in height, the risk rises by about six per cent, British researchers said.
That means a shorter man has about a 19 per cent smaller possibility of developing cancer than a man a foot taller than him.
However, researchers don't think that it is the height itself that boosts the risk -- rather that it's a "marker" for other factors that increase the cancer risk.
In a study of more than 9,000 men, researchers found that age, family history and race are still the biggest influences on the likelihood of developing cancer.
"We do not believe that height itself matters in determining risk of prostate cancer progression, but we speculate that factors that influence height may also influence cancer and height is therefore acting as a marker for the causal factors," said Luisa Zuccolo, lead author of the study.
Factors such as diets rich in fat and high in calories can boost hormones that affect height, and possibly increase the risk of cancer.
Zuccolo said she doesn't encourage taller men do be screened more often or that they get different treatment.
The study was published in Cancer, Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention.
