Sydney, November 16: An analysis of cancer data from Australia and other developed countries has revealed that malignant tumours are more likely to occur on the left side of the body.

The researchers, however, have yet to discover the reason behind this phenomenon.

According to them, there are 10 per cent more invasive tumours reported on the skin of left legs, arms and side of the body as compared to right-side limbs.

Scottish researcher David Brewster and his colleagues studied the cancer registries in Australia, Europe, the UK and the US over a five-year period.

The study revealed odd imbalance for sides of the body affected, though it did not show any differences in sex or age groups affected or for upper limb versus lower limb melanomas.

"The excess of left-sided tumours seems unlikely to be explained by chance or recording bias, " news.com.au quoted the researchers as writing in the European Journal of Cancer.

The researchers have ruled out the possibility that the greater occurrence of the malignant tumours on the left side of the body was because one arm is exposed to the sun while driving or due to uneven sun-block application.

They said that such occurrences were also not the result of an uneven distribution of melanocytes, a pigment-producing cell that helps protect the body from ultraviolet light.

The findings tender further support to evidence that many cancers, particularly lung cancer, seem to favour one side of the body over the other. (ANI)