Cancer is the name for a group of diseases in which cells in a specific part of the body divide and grow abnormally to form clusters known as tumors. All body tissues are formed from cells whose behavior is governed by genes. Under normal circumstances, cells reproduce and die at an equal rate, but if the gene responsible for controlling this aspect of cell behavior changes or mutates then the cell can begin to replicate uncontrollably. Whilst the link between cancer and obesity has been the focus of significant research for some time, no single causal pathway has been identified and at present it is not clear whether obesity is responsible for causing the gene mutations that can initiate cancer, or if it somehow promotes cancer progression such that the disease is detected at an earlier age than would otherwise be typical