Research suggests sugary soft drinks double cancer risk.

Researchers tracked 60,500 people taking part in a large-scale health study in Singapore.

Over 14 years, 140 of them were diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, which is one of the most deadly forms of the disease.

The scientists found that people who drank two or more soft drinks per week had an 87% increased cancer risk compared to those who did not.

Study leader Dr Mark Pereira, from the University of Minnesota, said: “The high levels of sugar in soft drinks may be increasing the level of insulin in the body, which we think contributes to pancreatic cancer cell growth.

“Singapore is a wealthy country with excellent healthcare. Favourite pastimes are eating and shopping, so the findings should apply to other Western countries.”

Pancreatic cancer is relatively rare, affecting around 7,600 people each year in the UK.

But only 2% to 3% of patients survive as long as five years.

Cancer Research UK said that evidence on the link between soft drinks and cancer risk is inconsistent.

Spokeswoman Jessica Harris said: “Although this study included a lot of people, very few of them developed pancreatic cancer, so it is difficult to know if soft drinks do increase the risk of pancreatic cancer, or whether the results are just down to chance.

“Also, people who drank lots of fizzy drinks in this study were more likely to be unhealthy in other ways, like smoking, eating more calories, and being less active, so it is difficult to separate the effects of all of these things.”

The findings have been published in the journal Cancer, Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevent.