A mans risk for prostate cancer appears to increase with his height, a new study shows.

Height appears to play less of a role than other known prostate cancer risk factors like age, family history and race. As a result, men shouldnt make screening or treatment decisions based on their height. But the findings may open up a new line of scientific inquiry into the causes of prostate cancer.

Researchers from four universities in England studied more than 9,000 men with and without prostate cancer and found that the tallest men had a 19 percent higher risk of developing prostate cancer than shorter men. Using the shortest men as a baseline, the study showed that risk increased 6 percent for every additional 4 inches in height. The report, published in the September issue of Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention, showed an even stronger association between height and aggressive cancers.

Compared to other risk factors, the magnitude of the additional risk of being taller is small, and we do not believe that it should interfere with preventive or clinical decisions in managing prostate cancer, said the studys lead author, Luisa Zuccolo, of the department of social medicine at the University of Bristol. But the insight arising from this research is of great scientific interest.

The increased risk likely is explained by factors associated with height, such as the insulin-like growth factor-1 system, which stimulates cell growth and has been shown to be involved in prostate cancer incidence and progression. The researchers also analyzed 58 other studies and found evidence that greater stature is associated with a modest increase in prostate cancer risk.

A womans height also is associated with breast cancer risk. Women who are 5-feet-9 or taller have a small increase in risk of both premenopausal and postmenopausal breast cancer compared to women 5-feet-3 or shorter.