Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Meta-Analysis
. 2017 Sep 26;12(9):e0185316.
doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0185316. eCollection 2017.

Height and lung cancer risk: A meta-analysis of observational studies

Fang Wang  1 , Xingxiang Xu  1 , Junjun Yang  1 , Lingfeng Min  1 , Sudong Liang  2 , Yong Chen  3
Affiliations
Meta-Analysis

Height and lung cancer risk: A meta-analysis of observational studies

Fang Wang et al. PLoS One. .

Abstract

Background: The association between height and lung cancer risk has been investigated by epidemiological studies but the results are inconsistent. This meta-analysis was to evaluate whether the height is associated with lung cancer.

Methods: We identified relevant articles by searching the MEDLINE and EMBASE databases, and reviewed the reference lists of selected papers. A random effect model was used to calculate summary odds ratios (OR) and relative risk (RR) with 95% confidence intervals (95% CI). Publication bias was estimated using Egger's regression asymmetry test.

Results: We included a total 16 studies (15 prospective studies and one case-control study) on adult height and lung cancer risk in the meta-analysis. Overall, per 10-cm height increases were associated with increased risk of lung cancer (RR 1.06; 95% CI 1.03-1.09, I2 = 43.6%).

Conclusions: In this meta-analysis, high adult height is related to increased lung cancer risk. Well-designed, large prospective studies are required to obtain a better indication of the relationship.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Figures

Fig 1
Fig 1. Flow diagram of the literature search.
Fig 2
Fig 2. Analysis of high versus low height and lung cancer risk.
Fig 3
Fig 3. Per 10-cm height increase and lung cancer risk.
Fig 4
Fig 4. Begg’s funnel plot with pseudo-95% CI for identifying publication bias in all studies for per 10-cm height increase and lung cancer.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Jemal A, Bray F, Center MM, Ferlay J, Ward E, Forman D. Global cancer statistics. CA: a cancer journal for clinicians. 2011;61(2):69–90. Epub 2011/02/08. doi: 10.3322/caac.20107 . - DOI - PubMed
    1. Mao Y, Yang D, He J, Krasna MJ. Epidemiology of Lung Cancer. Surgical oncology clinics of North America. 2016;25(3):439–45. Epub 2016/06/05. doi: 10.1016/j.soc.2016.02.001 . - DOI - PubMed
    1. Gunnell D, Okasha M, Smith GD, Oliver SE, Sandhu J, Holly JM. Height, leg length, and cancer risk: a systematic review. Epidemiologic reviews. 2001;23(2):313–42. Epub 2002/08/24. . - PubMed
    1. Batty GD, Shipley MJ, Gunnell D, Huxley R, Kivimaki M, Woodward M, et al. Height, wealth, and health: an overview with new data from three longitudinal studies. Economics and human biology. 2009;7(2):137–52. Epub 2009/07/25. doi: 10.1016/j.ehb.2009.06.004 . - DOI - PubMed
    1. Lango Allen H, Estrada K, Lettre G, Berndt SI, Weedon MN, Rivadeneira F, et al. Hundreds of variants clustered in genomic loci and biological pathways affect human height. Nature. 2010;467(7317):832–8. Epub 2010/10/01. doi: 10.1038/nature09410 ; PubMed Central PMCID: PMCPmc2955183. - DOI - PMC - PubMed

Publication types