Lifestyle Factors, Genetic Risk, and Cardiovascular Disease Risk among Breast Cancer Survivors: A Prospective Cohort Study in UK Biobank

Background: Evidence is limited regarding the association between lifestyles and cardiovascular disease (CVD), and the extent to which healthy lifestyles could offset the genetic risk of CVD in females with breast cancer (BC). Methods: Females diagnosed as BC, who were free of CVD at baseline, from UK Biobank were included. Five modifiable lifestyle factors were considered to calculate the healthy lifestyle score, namely body mass index (BMI), smoking, alcohol drinking, dietary habits, and physical activity. The polygenetic risk score (PRS) was derived for coronary heart disease (CHD), ischemic stroke (IS), and heart failure (HF). Results: In 13,348 female BC survivors, there were 986 CVD events (736 CHD, 165 IS, and 353 HF) over a median of 8.01 years of follow-up. Participants with 4-5 healthy lifestyle components were associated with a decreased risk of incident CVD (HR: 0.50; 95%CI: 0.37, 0.66), CHD (HR: 0.49; 95%CI: 0.35, 0.69), IS (HR: 0.35; 95%CI: 0.19, 0.65), and HF (HR: 0.59; 95%CI: 0.36, 0.97), compared with those with 0-1 lifestyle components. Evidence for the genetic-lifestyle interaction was observed for CHD (p = 0.034) and HF (p = 0.044). Among participants at high genetic risk, a healthy lifestyle was associated with a lower risk of CHD (HR: 0.37; 95%CI: 0.24, 0.56), IS (HR: 0.37; 95%CI: 0.15, 0.93) and HF (HR: 0.39; 95%CI: 0.21, 0.73). Conclusions: Our findings suggest that BC survivors with a high genetic risk could benefit more from adherence to a healthy lifestyle in reducing CVD risk.

Automated summary

The association between lifestyles and cardiovascular disease is limited, but a healthy lifestyle can offset the genetic risk of CVD in females with breast cancer. The study found that participants with 4-5 healthy lifestyle components had a lower risk of cardiovascular disease compared to those with 0-1 lifestyle components. Among participants at high genetic risk, a healthy lifestyle was associated with a lower risk of cardiovascular disease.