Researchers say they've discovered a "missing link" between susceptibility to cancer and those who consume lots of junk food.
They claim to be the first to find such a link.
The findings will raise awareness about the impact of weight control and diet to manage cancer risks, said Li Ren Kong, the lead author of the study published in the Cell journal.
Dr Kong and his colleagues at the National University of Singapore started the study aiming to understand what elevated cancer risk, "but ended up discovering a deeper mechanism linking an essential energy consumption pathway to cancer development", he said.
"The research team first studied patients who are at a high risk of developing breast or ovarian cancers because they inherit a faulty copy of the cancer gene - BRCA2 - from their parents. They demonstrated that cells from such patients were particularly sensitive to the effects of methylglyoxal, which is a chemical produced when our cells break down glucose to create energy," said the study's authors.
Methylglyoxal could cause DNA faults which were early warning signs for developing cancer, the researchers said.
The study also suggested people who didn't "inherit a faulty copy of BRCA2 but could experience higher-than-normal levels of methylglyoxal" could gather similar warning signs - pointing to a higher cancer risk.
"This study suggests a potential correlation between high levels of methylglyoxal, a metabolic by-product, and a genetic mutation pattern seen in some cancers," Cancer Research UK science engagement manager Tayyaba Jiwani told Medical News Today.
Dr Jiwani, who wasn't involved in the research, said although the findings were "an interesting area to explore further", she noted more clinical and lab testing was needed "to conclusively establish if methylglyoxal levels are directly linked to cancer risk".
The researchers said they aimed to undertake further studies to figure out whether the likes of poor diet and diabetes contributed to cancer risk in Asian countries including Singapore.
