Disease suffered by HALF of Americans raises risk of dying from cancer, study suggests

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By EMILY JOSHU STERNE, US ASSISTANT HEALTH EDITOR

Published: 17:04 BST, 21 August 2026 | Updated: 21:29 BST, 21 August 2026

America’s biggest killer may be fueling cancer deaths, a study suggests.

Suffered by nearly half of American adults, more than 120 million people, heart disease represents an umbrella of cardiovascular conditions such as high blood pressure, coronary artery disease, heart failure and stroke.

It takes nearly 1 million lives every year, with a growing number of patients dying as young as their 30s, 40s and 50s.

Now, researchers in Scotland have discovered an even more terrifying trend: People suffering from heart disease may be at a greater risk of developing and dying from cancer.

The team combed through health data from more than 20,000 people over the course of two decades, analyzing rates of heart disease and cancer, as well as deaths from either condition.

They found men with heart disease were 70 percent more likely to develop cancer than those without the condition. For women, having heart disease raised the likelihood of cancer by about 60 percent.

Additionally, men with heart disease were 50 percent more likely than women to die from cancer, which may be due to heart disease being more prevalent in men and this group having more cancer-promoting risk factors like obesity and smoking.

The team also delved into specific forms of cancer, noting that lung, colon and esophageal cancers were the most common forms to appear in the study, particularly in men.

People with heart disease may be more likely to develop and die from several forms of cancer, a study suggests

‘We found that men had a higher incidence of both getting cancer in the first place and sadly, also in dying from it, and this was particularly true among people with cardiovascular disease,’ Dr Rosa Thuemmler, study author and diagnostic radiology researcher at the University of Aberdeen, said.

‘Although the pattern was the same across all subtypes of cancer, this was most pronounced in lung and esophageal cancers.’

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Lung, colon and esophageal cancers share several of the same risk factors as heart disease, such as smoking, obesity, physical inactivity and alcohol use, which may have contributed to these cancers appearing most frequently.

The study, published in the European Heart Journal, followed 22,534 patients who were cancer-free at the start for an average of 26 years. About 57 percent were women, and the average age was 59.

There were 10,889 participants who either already had heart disease or developed it during the follow-up period.

Participants were followed until they died, stopped the follow-up process or until March 2022.

Researchers used health records and death certificate information to determine heart disease and the following forms of cancer: lung, colorectal, gastric, esophageal, non-melanoma skin cancer and other subtypes.

The team adjusted for risk factors such as ethnicity, socioeconomic conditions, blood pressure, cholesterol, diabetes, smoking, body mass index, medications and fruit and vegetable intake.

The above graph from the study shows cancer incidence and mortality in men and women with and without heart disease. The left graph shows incidence, with each line corresponding to a different group, while the right shows mortality

They found that at age 75, men with heart disease had a 17 percent risk of developing cancer compared to 10 percent in men without the disease, a 70 percent difference.

For women, those with heart disease at 75 had a 13 percent risk of cancer, while those without the condition had an eight percent risk, a 62 percent difference.

Men with heart disease were also 39 percent more likely to develop cancer and 51 percent more likely to die from it than women.

Additionally, by age 75, men with heart disease had a three-fold greater risk of stomach and esophageal cancer, along with a 1.5-fold increased risk of lung cancer, compared to women with heart disease.

The team believes it is the first study of its kind to identify how sex influences the relationship between heart disease and cancer.

In general, men have double the risk of heart disease compared to women.

‘We examined how men and women differed in their risk of cancer incidence and death over more than 25 years,’ Dr Tiberiu Pana, co-study author and honorary early career clinical research fellow at the University of Aberdeen, said.

‘We found that cancer incidence and death were higher in people with cardiovascular disease than in those without – a relationship we already knew a bit about. However, through looking at this large patient group over a very long period of time we were able to examine it more thoroughly.

‘We have identified clear differences between men and women across a range of factors in those with cardiovascular disease and all types of cancer.’

They believe the association between heart disease and cancer likely lies in shared risk factors such as smoking, obesity and alcohol consumption, and reducing these factors early could avoid the risk of developing either condition.

‘We need to better understand the driver of cancer development in these populations,’ Professor Mamas Mamas, study author professor of cardiology at Keele University in England, said.

‘Furthermore, whilst cardio-oncology services have focused mainly on cancer patients preventing the development of cardiovascular diseases, we need better pathways that can identify and prevent cancer development in patients with cardiac conditions.’

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Disease suffered by HALF of Americans raises risk of dying from cancer, study suggests

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