London, March 17 (IANS): Obese women have around 40 percent greater risk of developing a weight-related cancer in their lifetime than women of a healthy weight, shows a study.

Obesity increases a woman's risk of developing at least seven types of cancer - including bowel, post-menopausal breast, gallbladder, womb, kidney, pancreatic and oesophageal cancer.

The new statistics released by Cancer Research UK find that obese women have around a one in four risk of developing a cancer linked to weight in their lifetime.

In a group of 1,000 obese women, 274 will be diagnosed with a bodyweight-linked cancer in their lifetime, compared to 194 women diagnosed in a group of 1,000 healthy weight women.

There are different ways that obesity could increase the risk of cancer, and one possibility is that it is linked to a fat cell's production of hormones - especially oestrogen.

This hormone is thought to fuel the development of cancer.

"Losing weight takes time so gradually build on these to achieve a healthier lifestyle that you can maintain. And find out about local services, which can provide help and support to make lifestyle changes over the long term," said Julie Sharp, head of health information at Cancer Research UK.

"Lifestyle changes - like not smoking, keeping a healthy weight, eating a healthy diet and cutting back on alcohol - are the big opportunities for us all to personally reduce our cancer risk. Making these changes is not a guarantee against cancer, but it stacks the odds in our favour," Julie said.