Key result
PAD linked to ~3% greater incident cancer risk versus non-PAD CVD.
Why the study?
The specific contribution of PAD to cancer incidence, and whether this risk exceeds that of other CVD types, was unclear.
Does peripheral arterial disease increase the risk of incident cancer compared to non-PAD cardiovascular disease or no cardiovascular disease in adults aged ≥40 years?
Cohort (n=5,309,173)
Does peripheral arterial disease increase the risk of incident cancer compared to non-PAD cardiovascular disease or no cardiovascular disease in adults aged ≥40 years?
Hazard Ratio: 1.027 (95% CI 1.001–1.053)
p-value: p=0.044
Patients with peripheral artery disease have a significantly higher risk of developing cancer compared to those with other forms of cardiovascular disease or no cardiovascular disease.
PAD-cancer association should not change practice; hypothesis-generating for shared pathways needing prospective validation.
BACKGROUND: Cancer and cardiovascular disease (CVD) are leading causes of death and share multiple risk factors. Population-level and mechanistic studies support a causal association between CVD and cancer. Recent preclinical studies suggest that peripheral arterial disease (PAD) may confer unique cancer risks. However, the specific contribution of PAD to cancer incidence-and whether this risk exceeds that of other CVD types-remains unclear. OBJECTIVES: The objective of the study was to test whether PAD is an independent risk factor for cancer and whether it is associated with a greater cancer risk than other forms of CVD. METHODS: We conducted a retrospective cohort study using the MarketScan Research Database (2013-2023). Adults aged ≥40 years with ≥36 months of continuous coverage were classified as having PAD, non-PAD CVD, or no CVD. The primary outcome was time to incident cancer, analyzed using an inverse probability of treatment-weighted Fine-Gray subdistribution hazard model adjusted for shared risk factors. RESULTS: Our cohort included 87,594 individuals with PAD, 917,680 with non-PAD CVD, and 4,303,899 without CVD. Multivariable-adjusted inverse probability of treatment-weighted regression controlling for shared risk factors demonstrated that patients with PAD had a greater risk of cancer than individuals with non-PAD CVD (subdistribution HR: 1.027; 95% CI: 1.001-1.053; P = 0.044) and those without CVD (subdistribution HR: 1.158; 95% CI: 1.129-1.187; P < 0.0001). Individual analysis of the 20 most common cancers demonstrated associations of PAD with specific malignancies. CONCLUSIONS: Patients with PAD experience a higher risk of multiple forms of cancer after controlling for shared risk factors.
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Baylis et al. (2026) conducted a cohort in Peripheral artery disease (n=5,309,173). Peripheral arterial disease vs. Non-PAD CVD and no CVD was evaluated on time to incident cancer (subdistribution HR 1.027, 95% CI 1.001-1.053, p=0.044). Peripheral arterial disease was associated with a greater risk of incident cancer compared to non-PAD cardiovascular disease (HR 1.027; 95% CI 1.001-1.053; P=0.044).
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