According to findings released by European researchers on September 24, obesity, or excess weight, is on its way to become one of the leading causes of cancer - with the increased weight factor contributing to as many as 124,050 new cases of cancer in Europe last year!

As per the researchers' report, nearly 8 percent of all cancer cases in Europe result from obesity. While obesity in men caused 3.2 percent of new cancers, the figure in case of women was much higher - 8.6 percent.

Researchers said that statistics reveal that obesity-related cancer risk was 77 percent higher last year, as compared to the 2002 figures, when 70,000 of the 2.2 million cancers diagnosed across Europe were linked to excess weight.

Though scientists have not been able to pinpoint the exact reason behind the correlation between obesity and cancer risk, they opine that an increase of certain hormones, like estrogen, in obese people is probably the underlying cause that helps tumors thrive.

In addition, the increased stomach acid production in overweight people aggravates stomach, intestinal or esophageal cancer.

Commenting on the obesity, Dr. Andrew Renehan, senior lecturer in cancer studies at the University of Manchester in the UK, said: "In the face of an unabating obesity epidemic, and apparent failure of public health policies to control weight gain, there is a need to look at alternative strategies, including pharmacological approaches."