BACKGROUND The present study examined whether adult height was associated with all site-combined or site-specific cancers.

METHODS We used a nationwide claim data of 22,809,722 Korean participants including both men and women (2009-2012). The deciles of height from different age and sex groups were merged into a new quintile. We used Cox proportional hazards model to estimate hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals.

RESULTS During a 5-year follow-up period, 765,651 patients were diagnosed with cancer. Height was positively associated with risk of all site-combined cancers and with malignancy in the oral cavity, larynx, lung, stomach, colorectum, liver, pancreas, biliary tract and gallbladder, breast, ovary, cervix and corpus uteri, prostate, testes, kidney, bladder, central nervous system, thyroid, skin, and lymphatic and haematopoietic systems. The HRs for all-site cancers per 5 cm increment in height was 1.09 and that of each site was the highest in thyroid, breast, lymphoma, testicular, and renal cancers. This association was more prominent in women and male non-smokers than in other counterparts.

CONCLUSIONS Taller adult height was significantly related to an increased risk of most cancers including neoplasm in the gallbladder or biliary tract and testes, but except for oesophagus.