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A study finds a strong relationship between obesity and an increased risk in developing 11 types of cancers which include colon, rectum, endometrium, breast, ovary, kidney, pancreas, gastric cardia, biliary tract system, esophagus and bone marrow.

Dr. Maria Kyrgiou from the Imperial College London and lead author of the study said other assumptions initially made about cancer and obesity could be true though these would need to be further investigated to be proven.

Cancer is one of the leading causes of death worldwide according to the World Health Organization (WHO). The WHO also said that 1.9 billion adults are either overweight or obese. The incidence of both has more than doubled in this generation.

According to Reuters, researchers reviewed over 200 materials and literature that explored the connection between excessive weight, weight gained and cancers to find evidence about exaggerations in reported results and other false claims.

The review published in the British Medical Journal, revealed that obesity is strongly linked to hormone-related tumors in women and digestive organs.

The Guardian also reported that the research team used a very strict criteria in evaluating evidence from existing literature and confirms that obesity increases the risk of developing certain types of cancer as well as the types of cancer previously linked to excessive weight.

The review revealed that changes in the Body Mass Index (BMI), the ratio of body weight against the person's height, is strongly tied to an increased risk of having cancers in the bone marrow, biliary tract system, esophagus, pancreas and kidney.

There was also evidence strongly linking weight gain to endometrial and ovarian cancer in women and colorectal cancer, bone marrow tumors, stomach and gallbladder cancer in general.

The review however did not include controlled experiments specifically designed and conducted to prove that excessive weight and obesity directly causes cancer.

International Agency for Research on Cancer's Marc Grunter, a co-author of the study said that physicians and the public should both pay attention to obesity with respect to cancer and how managing weight lowers the risk of chronic degenerative conditions like cardiovascular diseases, diabetes and some types of cancers.