The association between body height and cancer: a retrospective analysis of 784,192 outpatients in Germany

PURPOSE: Cancer risk is determined by numerous factors. Recently, body height has been linked to different cancer sites in different populations. METHODS: This retrospective cohort study included 784,192 adult outpatients with available body height values from 2010 to 2020 using the Disease Analyzer database (IQVIA). The outcome was the incidence of cancer diagnoses within the study period according to body height, stratified by age, sex, and cancer sites. RESULTS: Overall cancer incidence rose with increasing body height in both sexes. In women, there was a rise from 10.9 (≤ 160 cm) to 13.6 (> 180 cm) and from 16.6 (≤ 160 cm) to 26.8 (> 180 cm) cases per 1000 patient years in the 51–60 and > 70 years age group, respectively. Among men, cancer incidene increased from 23.9 (≤ 165 cm) to 26.3 (176–185 cm) and from 38.9 (≤ 165 cm) to 43.4 (176–185 cm) cases per 1000 patient years in 61–70 and > 70 years age group, respectively. The hazard ratio (HR) for developing cancer was 1.11 (95% CI 1.09–1.13) for every 10 cm increase in body height among women and 1.06 (95% CI 1.04–1.08) among men. A significant association between body height and cancer incidence was found for certain cancer sites, such as malignant melanoma, in both women (HR 1.21, 95% CI 1.11–1.33) and men (HR 1.29, 95% CI 1.18–1.42). CONCLUSION: In this study, we present the first data from a large cohort from Germany that provide strong evidence for a positive association between body height and the overall risk of developing various cancers.