A man's height may tell doctors how fast cancer in the prostate will progress, according to a new study.

Researchers from four universities in England studied more than 9,000 men. They found that the risk of getting prostate cancer rose about 6 percent for every four inches taller than the shortest men in the study.

They said, however, that the risk was much less of a factor than things such as age, family history and ethnicity.

They also said that a review of other studies found that extra height can result in a 19 percent increase in the risk of more advanced cancer.

Lead author Luisa Zuccolo of the University of Bristol said that height itself probably does not increase the risk, but that factors that lead people to be taller, such as a hormone that stimulates cell growth, could cause the association.