New research published in the journal Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention found a surprising connection between a woman’s height and cancer risk among postmenopausal women;  taller woman has a higher risk for developing cancer.

The researchers studied more than 20,900 women ages 50 to 79 who participated in the Women’s Health Initiative study, an on-going analysis of post menopausal women and the factors that contribute to their health. They separated the women into groups based on their height, starting with women shorter than 5 feet 1 inch, and matched them to data on their cancer rates.

The study discovered that for every 10 centimeters of height, a woman’s risk of developing a range of different cancers increased by 13%. When they analysed  all the cancers together, they found that taller women had a 13% to 17% greater risk of developing breast cancer, endometrial cancer and colon cancer,melanoma and ovarian cancer.

These woman also had a 23% to 29% greater risk of developing kidney, rectum, thyroid and blood cancers. All of the cancers showed a common link to height, none of the taller women showed a lower risk of cancer compared to shorter woman.

Previous studies have resulted in the same connection,  it’s possible that on the most basic level, the greater number of cells and tissues that taller people have simply increases the odds that some of those cells will develop abnormally and become malignant.

“Ultimately, cancer is a result of processes having to do with growth, so it makes sense that hormones or other growth factors that influence height may also influence cancer risk, said Geoffrey Kabat, a senior epidemiologist in the Department of Epidemiology and Population Health at Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University in a statement.

Some of those common factors may be genetic, while others could be linked to environmental exposures or nutrition early in life.