Consuming just three alcoholic drinks a day can cause liver cancer, new research has found.

The results were uncovered by the World Cancer Research Fund's Continuous Update Project (CUP). This project involved an analysis of 34 studies worldwide, involving over eight million people, 24,500 of whom had liver cancer.

It is the most comprehensive global review of the link between liver cancer and diet, weight and physical activity.

According to Amanda McLean, director of the World Cancer Research Fund (WCRF) in the UK, while alcohol is already known to increase the risk of liver cancer, until now, it has been unclear how much alcohol was actually likely to cause the disease.

"The research reviewed in this report is strong enough, for the first time, to be more specific about this. Around three or more drinks per day can be enough to cause liver cancer," she stated.

Meanwhile, the CUP research also clearly shows that being overweight or obese increases the risk of liver cancer. However, drinking coffee appears to reduce the risk. And the findings also indicate that exercise and the consumption of fish can reduce the risk, although further research is needed to confirm this.

"There is a rich body of new evidence that has emerged from this latest CUP report. The new findings around alcohol, obesity and coffee are particularly interesting. There are also interesting new suggestions relating to exercise and fish.

"The evidence about the relationship between diet, nutrition, physical activity and cancer is becoming well established. We hope that these new findings will inform the debate about possible public health implications and policy responses," commented Dr Kate Allen of the WCRF International.

The WCRF pointed out that liver cancer is one of the most deadly cancers - with just 12% of people affected surviving for more than five years.

Around 782,000 new cases of the disease are diagnosed worldwide every year, including around 180 new cases in Ireland.