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Eating well after a cancer diagnosis could protect your heart and extend your life. A large UK Biobank study found that cancer survivors who closely followed diets like DASH or Mediterranean had up to a one-third lower risk of cardiovascular disease and gained up to 3.3 extra years of life expectancy compared to those with poor dietary habits.
Cancer survivors already face an elevated risk of cardiovascular disease — even those who never received cardiotoxic chemotherapy or radiation. Now, a major UK Biobank study published in JACC: Advances suggests that sticking to a heart-healthy diet can meaningfully reduce that risk and extend life expectancy.
Researchers analyzed data from 8,716 cancer survivors (mean age 59.5 years; 62% women) with no prior CVD, tracking them over a median of 12.3 years. They scored adherence to eight dietary patterns, including the Mediterranean, DASH, MIND, and AHEI-2010 diets. Over follow-up, there were 1,116 incident CVD events.
By the Numbers:
Why it matters: Cardiovascular disease rivals cancer itself as a leading cause of death among long-term cancer survivors. These findings give clinicians a concrete, actionable tool — dietary counseling — to reduce CV risk and improve survival in this growing patient population.
