Scientists from the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine (USA), whose article published in the journal Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention, conducted a meta-analysis of data from 47 international studies. In total, more than 280,500 patients with colorectal disease participated in these studies. cancer (that is, cancer of the colon and rectum), as well as more than 14 thousand patients with colorectal adenoma (a harbinger of cancer).
As a result, it was found that people with the highest stature have a 24% higher risk of colorectal cancer than people with the shortest stature. Every additional 10 centimeters of height is associated with a 14% increase in the risk of cancer and a 6% increase in the risk of adenoma.
The biological reasons for this relationship are not yet clear. How suggested one of the authors of the article, Elinor Zhou, one of the possible reasons could be the fact that tall people have larger internal organs, which increases the likelihood of genetic mutations leading to malignant cell transformation.
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