Almost 1 in 6 cases of cancer is caused by an infectious agent according to a new study published online in The Lancet, this month. The study also found that the burden of infection-related cancers was higher in the developing world, in women, and in younger individuals.

Researchers from the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), Lyon, France, analysed country specific cancer incidence data, to determine the proportion of cancers in each country that were attributable to infections.

A report, published by the Cancer Institute NSW in Australia has found that alcohol might be more strongly linked to cancer than previous thought.

The authors of the report reviewed the findings of 634 previous studies to determine the link between alcohol consumption and the risk of various cancers. In total, cancer risk was found to be 22% higher in people who consumed four alcoholic drinks a day compared to non-drinkers and 90% higher in those who consumed eight alcoholic drinks a day. On the other hand, consumption of two alcoholic drinks a day appeared to have little or no effect on cancer risk.

A recent analysis of 156 research studies has found that moderate alcohol consumption can increase the risk of developing several forms of cancer including cancers of the mouth, larynx, esophagus, breast, colon, and liver.

The study, published in the journal Preventive Medicine in 2004, involved the analysis of data from 156 studies involving a total of 116,702 individuals in order to determine the effects of alcohol consumption on cancer rates.

According to recent evidence, not only does heavy drinking increase the risk of developing cirrhosis of the liver, but it also increases the likelihood of an individual developing hepatocellular carcinoma, the most common form of liver cancer.

A recent study, published in the American Journal of Epidemiology in 2002, compared the alcohol consumption histories of 464 people who had been diagnosed with hepatocellular carcinoma to the drinking history of 828 control subjects who were free of hepatocellular carcinoma and other liver diseases.

While most people know that high blood sugar levels are a precursor for diabetes, several studies have also suggested a link between high blood sugar levels and the risk of developing some forms of cancer.

The largest of these studies was published in the Journal of the American Medical Association in January 2005. The researchers used data from the Korean Cancer Prevention Study (KCPS) which involved more than 1.2 million Koreans between the ages of 30 and 95.

Most people know that being overweight increases your risk of developing diseases such as diabetes and heart disease. What a lot of people don’t realise however is that being overweight also increases your risk of developing many forms of cancer.

The most comprehensive study on the environmental and lifestyle factors responsible for cancer is known as “The Cancer Prevention Study 2″. The study was conducted from 1982 to 1997 and followed 1.2 million American men and women