Our unhealthy lifestyles lead to obesity, putting us at greater risk of a number of cancers, researchers say.
It means women in Britain have a 17 per cent greater chance of getting the disease by the age of 75, compared with the rest of Europe.
They are also 13 per cent more likely to die from it, World Cancer Research Fund researchers say.
Dr Rachel Thompson, deputy head of science for the WCRF, said: ‘This is why one of the big public health challenges we face today is to reduce the amount of alcohol we drink as a nation and to get a grip on the obesity crisis before it spirals out of control.’
The WCRF claims up to 80,000 cases of cancer could be prevented each year if people kept to a healthy weight, were active, ate well and did not drink too much. For women, 33 per cent of cancers of the oesophagus are linked to obesity, as are 19 per cent of pancreatic cancers, 21 per cent of gallbladder cases, 16 per cent of breast cancers and 28 per cent of cancers of the womb lining.
Dr Thompson said: ‘On average, women in the UK are more likely to be overweight and to drink more alcohol than the European average and this is a concern because both these factors increase cancer risk. ‘For breast cancer, which is the most common type of cancer, about four in ten cases could be prevented through lifestyle changes.’On a more positive note, the figures show British men are slightly less at risk of cancer than others in Europe.