Share on PinterestCertain strategies and lifestyle behaviors have been linked to reduced cardiovascular disease and mortality risk. Design by MNT; Photography courtesy by Twenty47studio/Getty Images & alvaro gonzalez/Getty Image
- With progress in diagnosis and treatment, more people are surviving cancer than ever before.
- However, long-term health issues after cancer treatment may affect a person’s longevity.
- Research has now found that cancer survivors who follow a heart-healthy lifestyle can improve their chances of living longer.
- The study suggests that seven behaviors, including being physically active, eating a balanced diet, and quitting smoking, not only reduce a person’s overall mortality risk by 38%, but are also associated with reduced cancer mortality.
Cancer survival rates vary widely, depending on the type of cancer, the stage at which the cancer is diagnosed, and a country’s healthcare system. However, overall, more people now survive cancer than they used to.
Following diagnosis and treatment, people can experience some longer-term health effects, which may affect their longevity.
New research from Italy has found that people who follow a healthy lifestyle, taking regular exercise, following a healthy, balanced diet, not smoking, and keeping their body weight and blood pressure under control, can greatly improve their chance of living longer.
The study, published in the European Heart Journal, found that habits that benefit cardiovascular health can reduce cancer mortality risk, as well as reducing overall mortality risk in cancer survivors by up to 38%.
“The findings of this study make intuitive sense — people who have healthier habits, regardless of whether you are a cancer survivor or not, live longer. These findings should be encouraging, that a similar benefit of healthy habits towards longevity apply to both cancer survivors and those without cancer.”
— Christopher Berg, MD, non-interventional cardiologist specializing in cardio-oncology at MemorialCare Heart and Vascular Institute at Orange Coast Medical Center in Fountain Valley, CA.
Life’s Simple 7 for optimal heart health
The American Heart Association developed its Life’s Simple 7 (LS7) metric to help people optimise their cardiovascular health. It advises that to reduce cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk, people should:
- Stop smoking
- Eat better
- Get active
- Lose weight
- Manage blood pressure
- Control cholesterol
- Reduce blood sugar
In this study, researchers investigated whether the LS7 also affects mortality in cancer survivors.
Evaluating healthy lifestyles
The researchers followed cancer survivors from the Moli-sani study, an Italian cohort study evaluating environmental, genetic, and biomolecular risk factors that are linked to chronic-degenerative disease, particularly cancers and cardiovascular disease.
From the 24,325 people in the Moli-sani study, researchers identified 849 cancer survivors. Of these, 779 had sufficient data for final analysis.
They interviewed participants to collect data on cancer history, demographic characteristics, diet, health behaviours, medical history (including CVD, diabetes, high blood pressure, and high cholesterol), and medication use.
At the start, the participants had a mean age of 62.6 years. Researchers computed participants’ LS7 scores by assigning points to seven health metrics — smoking status, physical activity, diet, BMI, blood pressure, total cholesterol, and blood glucose. For each metric, they gave a rating from 0 to 2, with 2 indicating ideal health. Optimum cardiovascular health achieved a maximum score of 14.
They then divided participants into 3 categories for cardiovascular health:
- Poor: 0-6
- Intermediate: 7-9
- Ideal: 10-14.
Which healthy habits improve longevity for cancer survivors?
“The findings from our study suggest that cancer survivors may significantly improve their long-term survival by focusing on modifiable lifestyle factors. Key recommendations include: avoiding smoking, engaging in regular physical activity, following a balanced diet, such as the Mediterranean diet, maintaining a healthy weight, and monitoring blood pressure, cholesterol, and glucose levels. While these are general cardiovascular health measures, our study suggests they also have benefits for cancer outcomes.”
— Marialaura Bonaccio, PhD, first author on the study, Research Unit of Epidemiology and Prevention, IRCCS Istituto Neurologico Mediterraneo Neuromed, Pozzilli (IS), Italy.
Overall, 28.6% of cancer survivors were classified as poor, 51.4% as intermediate, and 20.0% as ideal on their LS7 scores.
Within the overall scores, more than half of the participants achieved ideal scores for smoking, physical activity, and blood glucose levels.
During a median follow-up of 14.6 years, 269 people died, 67 from CVD, 141 from cancer, and 54 from other causes.
Compared to poor scores in the LS7, the intermediate and ideal LS7 metrics were associated with a 26% and 38% reduction in all-cause mortality, respectively. In addition, each 1-point increase on the LS7 was associated with a 10% decrease in cancer mortality.
“Having optimized LS7 behaviors has been shown time and time again to decrease inflammation and improve metabolic function, thus decreasing both the risk of cardiovascular disease and cancer — the top two most common causes of mortality in the United States.”
— Christopher Berg, MD
Improving life expectancy after cancer
Bonaccio underscored that both cancer and cardiovascular disease shared similar risk factors.
“CVD and cancer share several common risk factors, including inflammation, obesity, physical inactivity, poor diet, and smoking. These factors can drive disease progression through overlapping biological pathways, such as chronic inflammation, hormonal dysregulation, and oxidative stress,” she said.
“High LS7 scores reflect healthier behaviours, which reduce these harmful processes. For example, maintaining a healthy weight and exercising regularly lowers inflammation, improves heart function, and may even slow cancer progression, collectively contributing to longer survival.”
— Marialaura Bonaccio, PhD
She emphasized that it was the “overall pattern of healthy behaviors, diet, exercise, smoking avoidance, and other lifestyle factors together, that matters most for long-term survival.”
Berg agreed, telling Medical News Today:
“Healthy habits need to cover all aspects of health. Positive or negative habits in one health category directly impact the chance of maintaining and nurturing healthy habits in other domains.”
“Neglecting an entire category of health behaviors can be disastrous to overall health. For example, your vegan diet stands no chance against that 1 pack a day of cigarettes you are smoking. Or — how motivated are you to get the gym if you lost an hour of sleep not limiting your screen time.”
— Christopher Berg, MD
“However,” Berg concluded. “If I would choose one behavior that I would prioritize over others, it would be to stay physically active. Exercise is medicine and the benefits to the cardiovascular system, protections against sarcopenia and frailty (especially as we age), neurologic, and mental health benefits cannot be discounted.”
