Women who drink just one sugary soda per day are at a much higher risk of developing liver cancer, a study suggests.

A team from Harvard Medical School in Boston observed a group of nearly 100,000 American women over the age of 50 who were followed for over 20 years.

Women who drank one or more sugar-sweetened sodas per day were 85 percent more likely to be diagnosed with liver cancer in that time compared to those who consumed fewer than one a week.

Daily soda drinkers were also 68 percent more likely to die from liver disease than those who drank three or fewer per month.

However, the researchers note the overall risk of death was still very low - with only around 150 fatalities from the disease in the trial.

No correlation was observed between liver cancer and those who drank artificially-sweetened beverages - despite recent concerns that the popular sweetener aspartame may be linked to the formation of tumors.

Commenting on the study Dr Pauline Emmett, a senior research fellow at the University of Bristol, said: ‘Although this study is observational so can't give cause and effect, we know from a body of evidence that it is worth thinking twice before choosing to drink sugar-sweetened beverages every day.' 

High sugar drinks are often high in calories and raise the risk of obesity, which itself is a risk factor for cancer and liver disease.

The massive dump of sugar can also lead to insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes, which raises the risk of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease.