According to a new study based on clinical studies carried out worldwide, taller women face a higher risk of ovarian cancer.

The study by researchers at the University of Oxford found that larger body size has a higher risk of ovarian cancer. However, the risk depends whether the hormone replacement therapy (HRT) has been taken or not. The study was aimed at finding out some of the aspects that may influence the development of ovarian cancer.

The team of international researchers coordinated by researchers at the Cancer Epidemiology Unit at Oxford University studied patient data from 47 epidemiological studies including over 25,000 women with ovarian cancer and more than 80,000 women without the disease. They found that there is an increase of 7 per cent in the risk of developing ovarian cancer for every 5 cm increase in the women’s height.

Dr Gillian Reeves of the Cancer Epidemiology Unit at Oxford University said, "The fact that height is clearly associated with risk may well be important for understanding how ovarian cancer develops. Although we do not yet know why height is related to ovarian cancer risk, there are a number of possible explanations."

The study has been published in the journal PLoS Medicine.