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Cancer survivors already face a higher risk of heart disease — but a healthy diet might help change that. A 12-year UK Biobank study found that cancer survivors who closely followed diets like DASH or the Mediterranean diet had up to a one-third lower risk of developing cardiovascular disease. The findings point to diet as a meaningful tool in cardio-oncology care.
Cancer survivors carry a heavier cardiovascular burden than the general population — even those never exposed to heart-taxing chemo or radiation. A new study published in JACC: Advances suggests that sticking to a healthy diet could meaningfully reduce that risk, offering a practical, low-cost intervention for a growing patient population.
Researchers analyzed data from 8,716 cancer survivors in the UK Biobank over a median follow-up of 12.3 years. They scored participants on several dietary patterns — including DASH, AHEI-2010, Mediterranean, and MIND diets — and tracked new cardiovascular events. Over the study period, 1,116 CVD events occurred, including ischemic heart disease, heart failure, and stroke.
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Why it matters: With cancer survivorship on the rise, managing long-term cardiovascular risk is increasingly critical. These findings suggest that dietary counseling could be a powerful — and underutilized — component of cardio-oncology care.
