Study finds large people are more likely to get some cancers because of the number of cells

A researcher from the Department of Evolution, Ecology and Biology of the bodies of the University of California found that tall people were more likely to contract cancer because of their larger number of cells. In his article published in Acts of the Royal Society BLeonard Nunney describes his study, which is comparing height to cancer risk and taking into account the total number of cells in the body.

Previous research has suggested that tall people may be more prone to cancer – a finding that has also been observed in other animals such as dogs. In this new initiative, Nunney and UoC assistants collected statistics on known cancer risks while taking into account size. They used data from studies that collected such information in Norway, Korea, Austria and Sweden. He and his team then built models to take into account the total number of cells in a person's body.

Nunney reports that he found a 13% increase in cancer risk in women for every 10 cm taller height. For men, the number was 11%. He also reported that 23 types of cancer were included in the study and that increasing the size was a risk factor for 18 of them. One type of cancer that did not present any risk associated with height was cervical cancer, which, Nunney notes, has been associated with HPV infections. Skin cancer, on the other hand, had the highest increase in risk. Nunney suggests that this may be due to an increase in growth hormones that can lead to increased cell division rates, resulting in the type of larger mutations seen in skin cancers.

Overall, Nunney found that skin, thyroid, colon, lymphoma, biliary and central nervous system cancers were more closely related to increased risk of height in men. In women, it was skin, thyroid, colon, uterus, breast, lymphoma and ovaries.

Nunney suggests that her model offers a simple explanation for the increased risk of cancer related to the size of people – their body cells are more numerous. He points out that when cells divide, mutations occur and sometimes these mutations become cancerous. More cells mean more mutations, which increases the risk of cancer.

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More information:
Leonard Nunney. Size matters: the size, the number of cells and the risk of cancer, Acts of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences (2018). DOI: 10.1098 / rspb.2018.1743