Two diseases may share underlying biological pathways we haven't fully mapped
For decades, medicine has drawn firm lines between the heart and the tumor, training separate specialists to guard separate territories. Now, a long-running study from UCLA Health quietly dissolves that boundary: two proteins already trusted to warn of cardiac danger have revealed themselves as harbingers of cancer as well, even in people who appear entirely healthy. Across nearly eighteen years and more than six thousand lives, the body has been sending a unified distress signal that medicine is only beginning to learn to read.
- Two routine cardiac blood tests — hs-cTnT and NT-proBNP — are showing an unexpected power to forecast cancer risk, unsettling the assumption that heart markers speak only to the heart.
- The signal is not subtle: even modest elevations in these proteins among disease-free adults correlated with higher rates of overall cancer, colorectal cancer, and lung cancer across nearly two decades of follow-up.
- The disruption lands squarely in the architecture of modern medicine, where cardiologists and oncologists have long operated in parallel silos, rarely sharing the same diagnostic language.
- A multi-institution team spanning UCLA, Johns Hopkins, and three other major centers is now pressing toward validation, hoping to transform these existing blood tests into dual-purpose screening tools.
- The deeper mechanism remains unmapped — why heart stress markers predict tumors is still an open question — but the correlation is strong enough to demand a new conversation between two fields that rarely speak.
Two of the world's most lethal diseases may be sharing a biological vocabulary that medicine has only just begun to translate. Researchers at UCLA Health, analyzing data from 6,244 adults enrolled in the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis between 2000 and 2002, found that two cardiac proteins measured at the study's outset predicted who would develop cancer over the following 17.8 years — even among participants who had no signs of heart disease or cancer when they enrolled.
The proteins in question — high-sensitivity cardiac troponin T and NT-proBNP — have long served as reliable sentinels of cardiovascular risk. What the UCLA-led team discovered is that their predictive reach extends into oncology. Modest elevations in either marker correlated with higher overall cancer incidence. When both were elevated together, colorectal cancer risk rose specifically. NT-proBNP alone also flagged increased lung cancer risk. The findings, published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology: Advances, held firm regardless of a participant's cardiac history.
The practical implications are significant precisely because these tests are already embedded in routine cardiology care. If further validated, a single blood draw could simultaneously assess risk for two of medicine's most feared conditions, enabling earlier intervention for people who might otherwise receive no warning. The research team — drawing expertise from UCLA, the University of Washington, Johns Hopkins, Inova Heart and Vascular Institute, and the Lundquist Institute — represents a rare bridge between fields that have historically kept their distance.
Why heart-stress markers should anticipate cancer remains an open question. The study establishes correlation, not mechanism, leaving the underlying biological pathways to future investigation. But the finding carries a larger philosophical weight: the body, it seems, does not honor the specialty boundaries that medicine has drawn around it, and its distress signals may be more unified — and more legible — than the silos of modern care have allowed us to see.
Two of the world's deadliest diseases may be speaking the same biological language. Researchers at UCLA Health have discovered that certain markers in the blood—proteins that doctors have long used to assess heart risk—can also predict who will develop cancer, even among people with no signs of either condition.
The finding emerged from a careful analysis of 6,244 adults tracked over nearly two decades. Between 2000 and 2002, these participants, aged 45 to 84, enrolled in a large study called MESA, the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis. None had cardiovascular disease or cancer when they joined. Researchers measured two specific cardiac biomarkers in their blood: high-sensitivity cardiac troponin T, known as hs-cTnT, and N-terminal pro–B-type natriuretic peptide, or NT-proBNP. Then they waited and watched. Over a median of 17.8 years, they tracked which participants developed cancer, pulling data from hospital records.
What they found was striking. Even modest elevations in either of these two heart markers predicted a higher overall cancer risk. The connection held true independent of whether someone had any history of heart disease. Both markers together pointed toward colorectal cancer specifically. NT-proBNP alone also signaled increased lung cancer risk. The study, led by cardiologist Xinjiang Cai at UCLA Health, was published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology: Advances.
The discovery suggests something deeper than coincidence. These biomarkers have been reliable indicators of cardiovascular danger for years. But their reach appears to extend into oncology—a field that has traditionally operated in its own silo. "The idea that slight elevations of heart-related blood markers might also help flag cancer risk in people with no known heart problems highlights how interconnected cardiovascular health and cancer may be," Cai said, pointing beyond the obvious shared risk factors like smoking and obesity that both diseases favor.
The research team included experts from five major institutions: UCLA, the University of Washington, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Inova Heart and Vascular Institute, and the Lundquist Institute at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center. Their collaboration bridged two medical worlds that rarely speak directly to each other. Cardiologists and oncologists have long worked separately, even though their patients often face both threats.
What makes this finding potentially transformative is its practical application. These blood tests are already routine in cardiology clinics. If validated further, they could become a dual-purpose screening tool—a way to assess risk for both heart disease and cancer in a single measurement. That could reshape how doctors approach prevention, allowing them to identify vulnerable people earlier and intervene before disease takes hold.
The study does not explain why these heart markers predict cancer. That mechanistic question remains open. But the correlation is clear enough to suggest that the two diseases may share underlying biological pathways that current medicine has not fully mapped. Understanding those connections could eventually lead to treatments that address both conditions simultaneously, or prevention strategies tailored to people at high risk for either or both.
For now, the findings stand as an invitation to rethink the boundaries between cardiology and oncology—and a reminder that the body's systems are far more interconnected than medical specialties sometimes acknowledge.
Citações Notáveis
These biomarkers are already well-known indicators of cardiovascular risk, but our findings suggest their predictive power may reach well beyond heart disease to encompass cancer risk too.— Dr. Xinjiang Cai, UCLA Health cardiologist and lead author
These findings can help bridge the knowledge gap at the intersection of preventive cardiology and oncology and can lead to better risk prediction and prevention strategies for both diseases.— Dr. Xinjiang Cai
A Conversa do Hearth Outra perspectiva sobre a história
Why would a heart marker predict cancer? They seem like completely different diseases.
That's the question everyone asks first. The study doesn't explain the mechanism—it just shows the correlation exists. But it suggests the two diseases may share some underlying biological vulnerability, something in how the body ages or responds to stress that makes both more likely.
So these markers aren't causing cancer. They're just flags for something else going on.
Exactly. Think of them as smoke detectors. They're sensitive to something in the system that's also making cancer more likely. What that something is—inflammation, cellular aging, metabolic dysfunction—that's the next frontier.
If this holds up, how would doctors actually use it?
These blood tests are already done routinely in cardiology. If the finding is confirmed, a cardiologist could tell a patient not just about their heart risk, but also their cancer risk, all from the same blood draw. It's a bridge between two specialties that rarely talk to each other.
Does this mean people with high markers should get screened for cancer?
That's the practical question the field will have to answer. Right now it's a predictor, not a diagnostic tool. But it could certainly inform who gets more aggressive screening and when.
What about people with normal markers? Are they safe?
No. This study shows that elevated markers predict risk, but plenty of people with normal markers still get cancer. This is about identifying a higher-risk group, not declaring anyone safe.