Women who regularly drink sugar-sweetened colas are running a high risk of developing endometrial cancer. The risk starts to increase for women who drink more than one cola a week, but it rises dramatically to a 78 per cent increased risk in women who drink eight or more cans or bottles a day.

The drinks seem to increase the chances of developing oestrogen-dependent type I endometrial cancer, which is the most common type of the cancer, but not type II.

The colas that increase the risk are Coke, Pepsi and other colas, other carbonated drinks that have added sugar, plus lemonades and other non-carbonated fruit drinks, say researchers from the University of Minnesota.

The risk is directly related to the amount that is drunk, the researchers discovered after questioning 23,039 post-menopausal women. Compared to women who never drank colas, those who drank between 1.7 and 60.5 drinks a week saw their risk increase.

(Source: Cancer Epidemiology Biomarkers & Prevention, 2013; doi: 10.1158/1055-9965.EPI-13-0636).