Larger people have an increased risk of cancer

Why body size has an impact on cancer risk

Researchers found that larger people have an increased risk of cancer because their size means there are more cells in their body. This increases the danger of dangerous mutations.

Researchers at the University of California Riverside found in their study that larger people are at increased risk for cancer. The physicians published the results of their study in the English-language journal "Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences".

What causes the increased risk?

A number of studies have previously found a link between high stature and greater risk of developing cancer. The risk increases for about every ten centimeters of height by ten percent. The scientists have cited a number of different explanations for this, for example, certain growth hormones may play a role in both body size and cancer. But environmental factors such as nutrition or childhood illnesses could also have an important impact. However, it may also be possible that the increased cancer risk is simply due to size, because larger people simply have more cells in their bodies that can cause dangerous mutations, says study author Professor Leonard Nunney of the University of California Riverside.

More cells increase the risk of cancer

The current study is based on the basic model of how cancer develops in the body, with individuals accumulating mutations in their cells throughout their lives. When a particular set of mutations is present, a form of cancer develops. This theory suggests that more cells or more subdivisions per cell would increase the risk of cancer. In other words, larger people would be at an increased risk of developing cancer.

Larger women have a higher risk of getting cancer

Professor Nunney compared the overall risk of men and women who contract cancer of any kind with their body size or calculations for the number of cells in a body. The results show that his predictions are consistent with the actual observations. For every ten centimeters of increased height, women had a 13 percent increased cancer risk. For men, the increased risk was 9 percent per ten centimeters. Overall, 18 out of 23 eligible cancers were found to be at increased body height risk. For noncancerous cancers, it is possible that these diseases are strongly influenced by environmental factors, such as malnutrition or viral infections. Thus, the influence of body size would be masked by these factors, says Professor Nunney, according to the English-language magazine "The Guardian".

Melanoma is an exception

However, there was a surprise in the study of melanoma: the link between cancer risk and height was stronger than expected. This could be because larger people carry more of the growth factor called IGF-1. A slight increase in cell division rate as a result of higher IGF-1 levels could have a stronger effect on these cells. Melanomas may need to develop a larger set of mutations compared to other types of cancer, the experts speculate.

How to reduce your cancer risk

People should not be worried about their stature now. The increased risk is low and there are many ways to reduce the risk of getting cancer. Make sure you eat a healthy diet, stop smoking, and keep your body healthy. (As)