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Large studies have shown that taller people are more likely to develop cancer than shorter people. Until now, it’s been unclear whether the increased risk is a direct consequence of having more cells in the body or of other factors. In a study published today (October 24) in Proceedings of the Royal Society B, Leonard Nunney, an evolutionary biologist at the University of California, Riverside, used data from studies of thousands of people to show that height itself has a direct effect on the risk of developing many types of cancer.
“This is a very exciting paper and really documents something we’ve discussed in the field for a long time but never actually accurately measured,” says Joshua Schiffman, a pediatric oncologist at the University of Utah who did not participate in the work. It “confirms that the more cells in one’s body and the more cells ...
