People who drink a lot of sugary drinks have a higher risk of developing cancer, although the evidence cannot establish a direct causal link, researchers said on Thursday (July 11).

The findings of a large study in France do suggest, however, that limiting intake of sugar-sweetened drinks may help to cut the number of cancer cases in a population, the scientists said.

Published in the BMJ British medical journal, this study analysed data from 101,257 French adults - 21 per cent of them men and 79 per cent women - and assessed their intake or sugary drinks.

It followed them for a maximum of nine years, between 2009 and 2018, to assess their risk for all types of cancer, and for some specific types including breast, colon and prostate cancer

The researchers also adjusted for several confounding cancer risk factors, including age, sex, educational level, family history, smoking and physical activity levels.

The results showed that a 100ml a day increase in consumption of sugary drinks was linked to an 18 per cent increased risk of overall cancer and a 22 per cent increased risk of breast cancer.

When the sugary drinkers were divided into those who drank fruit juices and those who drank other sweet drinks,

While this study doesn't offer a definitive causative answer about sugar and cancer, it does add to the overall picture of the importance of the current drive to reduce our sugar intake," said Ms Amelia Lake, an expert in public health nutrition at Britain's Teesside University.

"The message from the totality of evidence on excess sugar consumption and various health outcomes is clear - reducing the amount of sugar in our diet is extremely important." both groups were also linked with a higher risk of overall cancer.