Lifestyle Factors, Cardiometabolic Diseases, and Subsequent Cancer Risk: Evidence from Two Large Prospective Cohort Studies
Zhu X., Han Y., Sun Q., Zhu M., Yan C., Yu C., Sun D., Pei P., Jiang Y., Chen J., Liao C., Yang L., Chen Y., Du H., Dai J., Ma H., Chen Z., Hu Z., Lv J., Shen H., Li L., Jin G.
Cardiometabolic diseases (CMDs) are associated with increased cancer risk; however, the role of healthy lifestyle factors (LFs) in mitigating this risk remains unclear. Using data from 856 568 adults in the China Kadoorie Biobank (n = 461 047) and the UK Biobank (n = 395 521), we prospectively examined the associations of CMDs and cardiometabolic multimorbidity (CMM) with subsequent cancer risk and evaluated the potential protective effects of five low-risk LFs: no tobacco smoking, no excessive alcohol drinking, high physical activity, healthy dietary habits, and healthy body shape. We demonstrated that individuals with CMDs, especially those with multimorbidity, faced a significantly higher risk of cancer in both cohorts. Healthy LFs, particularly no tobacco smoking and high physical activity, were associated with a lower cancer risk following CMD onset. Moreover, adopting at least four healthy lifestyles could prevent an estimated 11.50%–15.30% of cancer cases among those with CMD. These findings highlight the importance of lifestyle interventions in cancer prevention, particularly for those with preexisting cardiometabolic conditions.