Now 4 in 10 cancer cases are linked to being obese

And excess weight is associated with 32 types of the disease – up from 13

OBESITY could be fuelling four in ten cases of cancer, a landmark study has revealed.

Research involving more than four million people indicates that the link between the disease and excess weight is even greater than feared.

Experts said the findings suggest that obesity is now associated with more than 30 types of cancer – an increase from the 13 in which it is known to play a role.

They also warned the groundbreaking research indicates that Britain, where almost two-thirds of the adult population is overweight, is facing a devastating health timebomb.

The study led by Lund University in Malmo, Sweden, involved 4.1million participants whose weight and lifestyle were monitored for about 40 years.

A total of around 332,500 cancer cases were identified during this time – and of these, there appeared to be a link between excess weight and the disease in 40 per cent of cases.

Researchers examined 122 types and subtypes of the disease in a study which tracked the patients over a total followup period of more than 100million years.

In total, researchers pinpointed 32 forms of cancer with an obesity link – including 13 already identified by the International Agency for Research on Cancer in 2016. These include breast, bowel, womb and kidney cancers.

The new findings, to be presented at the European Congress on Obesity in Venice, also identifies a further 19 potential obesity-related cancers for the first time, including malignant melanoma, gastric tumours, cancers of the small intestine and pituitary glands, as well as types of head and neck cancer, vulval and penis cancer.

The study also found that every five-point increase in body mass index – equivalent to gaining about three stone for someone who is a healthy weight – increased the chances of getting certain cancers by 24 per cent in men and 13 per cent in women.

Scientists believe obesity may increase cancer risks through biological mechanisms such as chronic inflammation, alterations in metabolism, and changes in hormone levels. Reduced participation in cancer screening programs and decreased efficacy of screening procedures in people

living with obesity may also be factors. According to the most recent NHS health survey in England, 26 per cent of adults are obese and a further 38 per cent are overweight.

Health charities said the findings should serve as a ‘wake-up call’ to ministers and called for restrictions on junk food advertisements to tackle Britain’s obesity epidemic.

Katharine Jenner of the Obesity Health Alliance, a coalition of more than 50 health organisations said: ‘The results are clear – if we can prevent obesity, we can prevent many types of dietrelated cancers.’ She called on the Government ‘ to urgently implement public health policies which will make a meaningful difference, such as restrictions on junk food marketing, and levies on unhealthy food’.

Professor Jason Halford, president of the European Association for the Study of Obesity, said: ‘This is a really strong largescale analysis.

‘More research is needed, but it reveals what many studying the links between cancer and obesity have suspected: that obesity is likely to be a risk factor for many more types of cancer than we had evidence for before.

‘If this does not cause concern for health policy makers, it is difficult to see what will.’

Lead researcher Dr Ming Sun said: ‘Our findings suggest that the impact of obesity on cancer might be greater than previously known, in that it is a risk factor for more cancers, especially of rarer kind. Some of these have rarely or never before been investigated in relation to obesity.’

Health Secretary Victoria Atkins said the ‘major conditions strategy’ will set out the Government’s approach to addressing lifestyle drivers of ill-health and disease, such as diet, and she pointed to successes such as the sugar reduction programme.

‘Really strong analysis’