BACKGROUND Most identified risk factors for cancer primarily occur in adulthood. As cancers generally have long latency periods, it is possible that risk factors acting earlier in life and accumulation of risks across the life course are important. Thus, focusing only on adult overweight as a modifiable risk factor may overlook childhood as an important aetiologic time window when body size is relevant for future cancer risks. The objective of this study was to review the evidence for associations between birthweight, body mass index (BMI), height and growth from 7-13 years and adult cancer risks based on studies using the Copenhagen School Health Records Register. METHODS The register contains measured anthropometric information on 372,636 children born in 1930-1989. All studies examining associations between early life body size and risks of adult cancer (until 85 years, diagnosed in 1968-2015) were included, comprising 31 studies on 16 different cancer sites. Cancer diagnoses were retrieved via individual-level linkages to the Danish Cancer Registry. RESULTS Birthweight was differentially associated with bladder, breast, colon, glioma, Hodgkin's disease, liver, kidney (renal cell), melanoma, ovarian, rectal, testicular and thyroid cancer. BMI in childhood was positively associated with risks of bladder (only late childhood), colon, endometrial, kidney, liver, oesophageal (only late childhood), ovarian, pancreatic (<70 years), prostate (only before childhood height adjustment) and thyroid cancer, whereas it was inversely associated with breast cancer. Child height was positively associated with breast, colon, endometrial, glioma, Hodgkin's disease, kidney, melanoma, oesophageal (only women), ovarian, prostate, testicular and thyroid cancer and inversely associated with bladder cancer. Greater than average increases in childhood BMI or linear growth at ages 7-13 increased risks of several cancers. CONCLUSIONS Early life body size and growth are associated with many, but not all adult cancers, suggesting that the aetiology of several cancers may lie earlier in life than previously thought.

中文翻译：

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出生体重、儿童超重、身高和成长以及成人癌症风险：使用哥本哈根学校健康记录注册的研究回顾。

背景 大多数已确定的癌症风险因素主要发生在成年期。由于癌症通常具有较长的潜伏期，因此在生命早期起作用的风险因素和整个生命过程中风险的积累可能很重要。因此，当身体大小与未来的癌症风险相关时，仅关注成人超重作为可改变的风险因素可能会忽略儿童作为重要的病因时间窗口。本研究的目的是根据使用哥本哈根学校健康记录登记册的研究，审查出生体重、体重指数 (BMI)、身高和 7-13 岁生长发育与成人癌症风险之间关联的证据。方法 登记册包含 1930-1989 年出生的 372,636 名儿童的测量人体测量信息。所有研究早期体型与成人癌症风险（直到 85 岁，在 1968-2015 年诊断）之间的关联都被纳入，包括针对 16 个不同癌症部位的 31 项研究。癌症诊断是通过与丹麦癌症登记处的个人层面联系来检索的。结果 出生体重与膀胱癌、乳腺癌、结肠癌、神经胶质瘤、霍奇金病、肝、肾（肾细胞）、黑色素瘤、卵巢癌、直肠癌、睾丸癌和甲状腺癌存在差异。儿童时期的 BMI 与膀胱（仅儿童晚期）、结肠、子宫内膜、肾脏、肝脏、食管（仅儿童晚期）、卵巢、胰腺（<70 岁）、前列腺（仅在儿童身高调整之前）和甲状腺的风险呈正相关癌症，而它与乳腺癌呈负相关。儿童身高与乳腺癌、结肠癌、子宫内膜癌、神经胶质瘤、霍奇金病、肾癌、黑色素瘤、食道癌（仅限女性）、卵巢癌、前列腺癌、睾丸癌和甲状腺癌呈正相关，与膀胱癌呈负相关。儿童 BMI 或 7-13 岁时的线性增长高于平均水平会增加患多种癌症的风险。结论 生命早期的身体大小和生长与许多（但不是所有）成人癌症有关，这表明几种癌症的病因可能比以前认为的更早。