Researchers led by Dr. Xinjiang Cai at UCLA analyzed cardiac MRI scans from more than 6,000 MESA participants, tracking cancer diagnoses over an average of 18 years. The study specifically looked at "cardiac remodeling", the subtle, early changes in the heart's structure and function that show up on imaging before any symptoms appear. Two findings stood out: a higher left ventricular mass index (a measure of increased heart muscle) was linked to greater breast cancer risk, while reduced left atrial strain (a measure of how well the heart's upper chamber contracts) was linked to greater colorectal cancer risk. Out of everyone in the analysis, 790 new cancer cases were identified during follow-up, and cancer rates rose as cardiac remodeling measures worsened.

It's important to know this doesn't mean heart changes cause cancer, or that anyone with these heart findings will get cancer. It's an association the researchers observed, not a proven cause-and-effect. The hope is that these heart measurements could one day help doctors identify people who might benefit from earlier screening or prevention for both heart disease and cancer, since the two conditions may share some underlying biology.

Source: Cai X, White Q, Juarez J, Chehab O, Ambale-Venkatesh B, Johnson WC, Hansen SL, Inoue K, Lima JA, Watson KE, McClelland RL. Association of Subclinical Cardiac Remodeling With Incident Cancer in the MESA Cohort. J Am Heart Assoc. 2026 Jun;15:e050573. DOI: 10.1161/JAHA.125.050573. Epub 2026 https://doi.org/10.1161/JAHA.125.050573
 

More details on this research discovery can be found here. https://www.uclahealth.org/news/release/ucla-led-research-suggests-early-heart-changes-may-predict