Cardiovascular health assessed by life’s essential 8 in Israeli adults aged ≥65 years and its association with long-term cancer incidence

Background Cardiovascular disease (CVD) and cancer, leading causes of morbidity and mortality in an aging global population, share risk factors and frequently coexist. Their relationship remains incompletely understood, particularly regarding the link between cardiovascular health (CVH) and cancer incidence among older adults. Objective To examine the association between CVH, assessed using Life’s Essential 8 (LE8), a composite measure of health behaviors and cardiometabolic factors, and cancer incidence in a nationwide sample of older adults. Methods A cohort of Israeli adults aged ≥65 from the 2005–2006 National Health and Nutrition Survey. Baseline health behaviors and CVD risk factors were used to categorize participants according to LE8. Cancer data were obtained from the National Cancer Registry through December 2019. Cause-specific Cox proportional hazards models estimated hazard ratios (HRs) for incident cancer, adjusting for sociodemographic variables. Results Among cancer-free participants at baseline n = 1543; mean age (SD), 75 (6) years; 53% women; 39% with pre-existing CVD, LE8 scores ranged from 7–97 mean (SD), 56 (14). LE8 scores were positively associated with education and residential socioeconomic status and were lower among men and Arab participants. Over a median follow-up of 11.7 years, 345 participants (22%) were diagnosed with all-site cancer. LE8 was inversely associated with cancer incidence (adjusted HR = 0.88, 95% CI: 0.79–0.98 per 1 SD increase). The association was evident primarily among CVD-free participants (HR = 0.84, 95% CI: 0.74–0.97). Conclusion Higher LE8 scores were associated with lower long-term cancer incidence in older adults. These findings extend the relevance of LE8 beyond CVD prevention and suggest that maintaining favorable CVH in later life may be associated with a lower risk of cancer.