Association between height and malignancy among children in the north of Iran.

BACKGROUND: This study aim to determine the association between height and cancer in the children aged 14 years at the time of diagnosis in Rasht, Iran.

MATERIALS AND METHODS: In this cross-sectional study, height of patients with a malignancy (≤14) at the time of diagnosis measured in the standard charts of United States National Center for the Health Statistics (NCHS). Data were reported by descriptive statistics and analyzed by Regression tests in SPSS version 19.

RESULTS: Overall, 78 male (38.6%) and 124 female (61.4%) patients with various kinds of malignancies were evaluated for their heights. Leukemia was the most common type of cancer. The median height of the patients was more than 20(th) percentile and under 50(th) percentile of the NCHS. No significant association was found between height and leukemia.

CONCLUSION: Previously, the median height of Iranian girls and boys (≤15) reported under 20(th) percentile of the NCHS. In this study, the median height of the patients at the time of diagnosis was more than 20(th) percentile of the NCHS. There was a correlation between height and cancer among our patients, although, this correlation can be assessed by further cohort study.