Around a quarter of preventable cancers in the United States are thought to be impacted by people either being obese or overweight, or being physically inactive, according to the American Association for Cancer Research's new cancer progress report.

A graph within the report shows that in the US, 20 per cent of cancers diagnoses are related to people being overweight or obese, while another five per cent are related to inactivity.

Elsewhere, it is believed that 33 per cent of diagnoses were caused by tobacco use, with another five per cent also linked to poor dietary habits.

The research shows that weight levels and activity could be just as important as not smoking when looking to stave off the development of certain preventable cancers.

As previous research has shown, being overweight is thought to have an impact towards the development of a number of cancers, including colorectal, endometrial, kidney, pancreatic, gallbladder and postmenopausal breast cancer.

"The cancers that are increasing are the ones that are associated with obesity," said AACR Timothy Rebbeck, spokesman and University of Pennsylvania cancer epidemiologist.

"These things are not independent of one another, so if you smoke and are overweight and are physically inactive, you have multiple hits.”

A number of recent studies have highlighted the potential impact exercise and physical activity can have on the development of cancers, with one study showing that routine exercise could reduce the risk of the development of breast cancer in post-menopausal women.

Research earlier this year also alluded to the positive effect exercise could have on preventing bowel cancer, while a report by the World Health Organisation (WHO) has already highlighted that increasing use of tobacco, consumption of alcohol and highly processed foods and a lack of physical activity are to contribute to a global surge in cancer cases in the coming years.

A full copy of the association's cancer progress report is availablehere.