Taller individuals less likely to develop esophageal cancer

A new study has observed that tall people are less likely to suffer from esophageal cancer as compared to short people.

The study conducted a large pooled analysis using data from 14 population-based epidemiologic studies within the International Barrett's and Esophageal Adenocarcinoma Consortium (BEACON), including 1,000 cases of esophageal cancer and twice as many cases of Barrett's esophagus, and twice as many controls.

Aaron P. Thrift, PhD, lead study author from the Public Health Sciences Division, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle, WA, said that individuals in the lowest quartile of height (under 5'7" for men and 5'2" for women) were roughly twice as likely as individuals in the highest quartile of height (taller than 6' for men and 5'5" for women) to have Barrett's esophagus or esophageal cancer and the relationship between height and esophageal cancer was opposite from many other cancers including colorectal, prostate and breast where greater height is associated with an increased risk.

The researchers reported no obvious explanation for the association between short height and Barrett's esophagus or esophageal cancer.

The study is published in the journal of the American Gastroenterological Association.