Abstract Body (Do not enter title and authors here): Introduction
Cardiovascular disease (CVD) and cancer are leading causes of morbidity and mortality. Since they share risk factors, it is plausible that CVD risk scores and cardiovascular health (CVH) metrics could also be used to predict cancer.
Research Question
What is the relationship between established CVD risk scores and CVH metrics and the incidence of cancer?
Methods
A librarian searched four databases (Embase, PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science: Core) in February 2024 without language restriction. Using Covidence, two reviewers independently screened the titles, abstracts, and full texts of the retrieved articles based on the inclusion criteria (prospective observational studies, adults aged ≥18 years, reported incidence of any type of cancer as an outcome, and used at least one CVD risk score or CVH metric as an exposure). A third reviewer resolved conflicts. The characteristics of the studies retained after screening and the summary estimates of the associations were extracted using Excel.
Results
Of the 4,165 records screened, 13 studies (reporting 14 CVD or CVH metrics) were included. The heterogeneity in the scales (comparison group) precluded a meta-analysis. Four studies evaluated CVD risk scores (Atherosclerotic Cardiovascular Disease [ASCVD], Framingham Risk Score, Systematic Coronary Risk Evaluation), and 10 reported CVH metrics (American Heart Association [AHA] Life’s Simple 7, AHA Life’s Essential 8). Sample size ranged from 1,880 to 342,226, with median follow-up from 8.1 to 29.6 years. Most of the studies included more women than men (61.5%) and mean age ranged from 44.8 to 72 years. The majority of studies included all cancer types (71.4%), including breast, lung, colorectal, and prostate cancer subtypes, and the total number of cancer events ranged from 387 to 11,643. Studies utilizing CVD risk scores consistently reported that individuals with a higher CVD risk, developed any type of cancer, with hazard ratios (HRs) ranging from 1.02 to 3.71, and studies employing CVH metrics generally indicated an ideal CVH is associated with a lower cancer risk, with HRs ranging from 0.49 to 0.95.
Conclusion
Despite heterogeneity in CVD risk metrics and cancer subtypes, most studies reported that higher CVD risk scores or worse CVH metrics may increase future cancer risk. More rigorous studies are needed focusing on specific CVD risk metrics and cancer types of cancer to produce evidence suitable for a meta-analysis.