Height, selected genetic markers and prostate cancer risk: results from the PRACTICAL consortium.

Introduction Evidence on height and prostate cancer risk is mixed, however, recent studies with large datasets support a possible role for its association with the risk of aggressive prostate cancer. Methods We analysed data from the PRACTICAL consortium consisting of 6207 prostate cancer cases and 6016 controls and a subset of high grade cases (2480 cases). We explored height, polymorphisms in genes related to growth processes as main effects and their possible interactions. Results The results suggest that height is associated with high grade prostate cancer risk. Men with height greater than 180 cm are at a 22% increased risk as compared to men with height <173 cm (OR 1.22, 95% C.I. 1.01-1.48). Genetic variants in the growth pathway gene showed an association with prostate cancer risk. The aggregate scores of the selected variants identified a significantly increased risk of overall prostate cancer and high grade prostate cancer by 13% and 15% respectively in the highest score group as compared to lowest score group. Conclusion There was no evidence of gene-environment interaction between height and the selected candidate SNPs. Our findings suggest a role of height in high grade prostate cancer. The effect of genetic variants in the genes related to growth is seen in all cases and high grade prostate cancer. There is no interaction between these two exposures.