Height, Body Mass Index, and Ovarian Cancer: A Follow-Up of 1.1 Million Norwegian Women

• Published in: JNCI : Journal of the National Cancer Institute Vol. 95; no. 16; pp. 1244 - 1248
• Main Authors: Engeland, Anders, Tretli, Steinar, Bjørge, Tone
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Cary, NC Oxford University Press 20.08.2003; Oxford Publishing Limited (England)
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adult; Aged; Biological and medical sciences; Body Height; Body Mass Index; Female; Female genital diseases; Follow-Up Studies; Gynecology. Andrology. Obstetrics; Health risk assessment; Height; Humans; Medical sciences; Middle Aged; Norway - epidemiology; Obesity - complications; Ovarian cancer; Ovarian Neoplasms - epidemiology; Ovarian Neoplasms - etiology; Proportional Hazards Models; Risk Assessment; Risk Factors; Tumors; Weight; Women; Norway; Europe; Human; Obesity; Nutrition disorder; Malignant tumor; Epidemiology; Female genital diseases; Overweight; Ovarian diseases; Body mass index; Ovary; Cohort study; Body size; Risk factor; Public health; Nutritional status
• ISSN: 0027-8874; 1460-2105
• DOI: 10.1093/jnci/djg010

Body mass index (BMI) has shown both positive and negative associations with ovarian cancer. Whether a possible association between height and ovarian cancer exists is unknown. We explored whether BMI and height were associated with ovarian cancer risk in a Norwegian cohort of approximately 1.1 million women, aged 14–74 years who were measured between 1963 and 1999. The cohort was followed for an average of 25 years through linkage to population-based cancer and death registries. Among the cohort, 7882 histologically verified cases of ovarian cancer were registered. Relative to women with a medium BMI (18.5–24.9 kg/m2), women who were overweight or obese in adolescence or young adulthood had an increased risk of ovarian cancer; women with a very high BMI in adolescence had a relative risk of 1.56 (95% confidence interval = 1.04 to 2.32) compared with women with medium BMI. No such association was seen in older women. A positive association between height and risk of ovarian cancer, particularly endometrioid ovarian cancer, was observed in women younger than 60 years of age.