An analysis of 20,928 postmenopausal women showed that the taller a woman is, the greater her risk for a number of cancers, incl

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问题     An analysis of 20,928 postmenopausal women showed that the taller a woman is, the greater her risk for a number of cancers, including breast, colon and skin cancer, among others. The finding, published in Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention, is not expected to change screening recommendations and shouldn’t alarm those with a tall stature. Instead, say scientists, the association between height and cancer may help guide researchers to study hormones and growth factors that influence height and may also play a role in cancer.
    "We know that cancer is a disease in which hormones and growth factors modify things," said Geoffrey C. Kabat, a senior epidemiologist in the department of epidemiology and population health at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University in New York. "Height itself is not a risk factor, but it really appears to be a marker for one or more exposures that influence cancer risk. "
    Nobody really knows why cancer risk is associated with a taller stature. It may have to do with hormones and growth factors that spur both height and cancer cells. It may be that height simply increases the surface area of the body’s organs, resulting in a greater number of overall cells and higher subsequent risk of malignancy.
    While the current study focused only on women, other research has also found an association between height and cancer among men. One study found that taller men were at slightly higher risk for aggressive prostate cancer. In May, the Journal of the National Cancer Institute reported that height differences between men and women may help explain why men have an overall greater risk of developing cancer in non-sex specific organs like kidneys and lungs. That study, of 65 ,000 men and women, showed that sex differences in height may explain a third to a half of a man’s excess cancer risk compared to women.
    Height can be influenced by a number of factors beyond genetics. The amount and type of foods consumed in childhood can influence height, and childhood nutrition may also play some role in cancer risk. A higher circulating level of a protein called insulin-like growth factor, which can be influenced by factors like exercise, stress, body mass index and nutrition, is also associated with both increased height and an increased cancer risk.
    The data for the latest analysis were collected from the Women’s Health Initiative, the largest-ever study of postmenopausal women. The researchers identified 20,928 women who had received a cancer diagnosis during the 12-year study period. The data set included not only the woman’s height but also her age, weight, education, smoking habits, alcohol consumption and whether she used hormone therapy. This allowed the scientists to control for other factors that could influence cancer risk and more closely determine the strength of the association with height.
    They found that for every 4-inch change in height, there was a 13 percent increase in risk for developing any type of cancer. The cancers most strongly associated with height were cancers of the kidney, rectum, thyroid and blood. Risk for those cancers increased by 23 to 29 percent for every 4-inch increase in height.
According to paragraph 4, taller men were at slightly higher risk for aggressive______.

选项 A、prostate cancer
B、colon cancer
C、skin cancer
D、blood cancer

答案A

解析 本题考查考生对第四段中有关男性身高与癌症风险之间关系细节的把握。第四段第一句指出其他的研究也发现了男性身高和癌症之间的关联。第二句提到其中一项研究发现,身高较高的男性有更高的患破坏性前列腺癌的风险,因此[A]是正确答案。[B]、[C]、[D]在第一段和最后一段有所提及,但是都是关于女性身高较高与患癌风险增大之间关系的例子,并不是第四段关于男性身高和癌症风险关系的例子,均不正确。
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