The association between life’s crucial 9 and all-cause, cancer-specific and cardiovascular mortality in US cancer survivors: a cohort study of NHANES

Abstract Background Life’s Crucial 9 (LC9) is a recently proposed cardiovascular health (CVH) scoring system that integrates psychological well-being with Life’s Essential 8 (LE8). However, its prognostic value remains unclear. This study aims to investigate the association between LC9 and outcomes...

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Main Authors: Hongyang Gong, Ming Gao, Zhiwen Zeng
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: BMC 2025-04-01
Series:BMC Cancer
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Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1186/s12885-025-14229-2
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author Hongyang Gong
Ming Gao
Zhiwen Zeng
author_facet Hongyang Gong
Ming Gao
Zhiwen Zeng
author_sort Hongyang Gong
collection DOAJ
description Abstract Background Life’s Crucial 9 (LC9) is a recently proposed cardiovascular health (CVH) scoring system that integrates psychological well-being with Life’s Essential 8 (LE8). However, its prognostic value remains unclear. This study aims to investigate the association between LC9 and outcomes among cancer survivors. Methods A total of 2,558 cancer survivors from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) 2005–2018 were included in this study. LC9, representing a dimension of psychological health, was calculated as the average of the LE8 score and the depression score. Cox proportional hazards regression, restricted cubic spline (RCS) analysis, subgroup analysis, and Kaplan-Meier survival curves were employed to evaluate the association between LC9 and mortality risk, with adjustments for potential confounders. Results During an average follow-up period of 80 months, 640 deaths occurred, including 205 from cancer and 128 from cardiovascular disease. After adjusting for all covariates using Cox regression, a 10-point increase in the LC9 score was associated with a 24% reduction in all-cause mortality (HR: 0.76; 95% CI: 0.68–0.84), a 19% reduction in cancer-specific mortality (HR: 0.81; 95% CI: 0.68–0.97), and a 28% reduction in cardiovascular mortality (HR: 0.72; 95% CI: 0.58–0.90). Kaplan-Meier survival curves indicated lower rates of all-cause, cancer-specific, and cardiovascular mortality among participants with higher LC9 scores. RCS analysis revealed a linear inverse association between LC9 and all-cause and cancer-specific mortality and a nonlinear inverse association with cardiovascular mortality. Conclusion Among cancer survivors in the United States, higher LC9 scores were independently associated with lower risks of all-cause, cancer-specific, and cardiovascular mortality. This finding highlights the potential link between cardiovascular health and survival outcomes in cancer survivors, suggesting that improving cardiovascular health may serve as an important preventive strategy to enhance survival rates in this population.
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spelling doaj-art-37f63ba91df84cdfaf691a305b7c3cdc2025-08-20T03:52:20ZengBMCBMC Cancer1471-24072025-04-0125111310.1186/s12885-025-14229-2The association between life’s crucial 9 and all-cause, cancer-specific and cardiovascular mortality in US cancer survivors: a cohort study of NHANESHongyang Gong0Ming Gao1Zhiwen Zeng2Department of Physiology, College of Medicine, Chosun UniversityDepartment of Gastroenterology, The First Hospital of Jilin UniversityDepartment of Oncology, NANCHANG PEOPLE’S HOSPITALAbstract Background Life’s Crucial 9 (LC9) is a recently proposed cardiovascular health (CVH) scoring system that integrates psychological well-being with Life’s Essential 8 (LE8). However, its prognostic value remains unclear. This study aims to investigate the association between LC9 and outcomes among cancer survivors. Methods A total of 2,558 cancer survivors from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) 2005–2018 were included in this study. LC9, representing a dimension of psychological health, was calculated as the average of the LE8 score and the depression score. Cox proportional hazards regression, restricted cubic spline (RCS) analysis, subgroup analysis, and Kaplan-Meier survival curves were employed to evaluate the association between LC9 and mortality risk, with adjustments for potential confounders. Results During an average follow-up period of 80 months, 640 deaths occurred, including 205 from cancer and 128 from cardiovascular disease. After adjusting for all covariates using Cox regression, a 10-point increase in the LC9 score was associated with a 24% reduction in all-cause mortality (HR: 0.76; 95% CI: 0.68–0.84), a 19% reduction in cancer-specific mortality (HR: 0.81; 95% CI: 0.68–0.97), and a 28% reduction in cardiovascular mortality (HR: 0.72; 95% CI: 0.58–0.90). Kaplan-Meier survival curves indicated lower rates of all-cause, cancer-specific, and cardiovascular mortality among participants with higher LC9 scores. RCS analysis revealed a linear inverse association between LC9 and all-cause and cancer-specific mortality and a nonlinear inverse association with cardiovascular mortality. Conclusion Among cancer survivors in the United States, higher LC9 scores were independently associated with lower risks of all-cause, cancer-specific, and cardiovascular mortality. This finding highlights the potential link between cardiovascular health and survival outcomes in cancer survivors, suggesting that improving cardiovascular health may serve as an important preventive strategy to enhance survival rates in this population.https://doi.org/10.1186/s12885-025-14229-2Life’s crucial 9Cancer survivorsAll-cause mortalityCancer-specific mortalityCardiovascular mortality
spellingShingle Hongyang Gong
Ming Gao
Zhiwen Zeng
The association between life’s crucial 9 and all-cause, cancer-specific and cardiovascular mortality in US cancer survivors: a cohort study of NHANES
BMC Cancer
Life’s crucial 9
Cancer survivors
All-cause mortality
Cancer-specific mortality
Cardiovascular mortality
title The association between life’s crucial 9 and all-cause, cancer-specific and cardiovascular mortality in US cancer survivors: a cohort study of NHANES
title_full The association between life’s crucial 9 and all-cause, cancer-specific and cardiovascular mortality in US cancer survivors: a cohort study of NHANES
title_fullStr The association between life’s crucial 9 and all-cause, cancer-specific and cardiovascular mortality in US cancer survivors: a cohort study of NHANES
title_full_unstemmed The association between life’s crucial 9 and all-cause, cancer-specific and cardiovascular mortality in US cancer survivors: a cohort study of NHANES
title_short The association between life’s crucial 9 and all-cause, cancer-specific and cardiovascular mortality in US cancer survivors: a cohort study of NHANES
title_sort association between life s crucial 9 and all cause cancer specific and cardiovascular mortality in us cancer survivors a cohort study of nhanes
topic Life’s crucial 9
Cancer survivors
All-cause mortality
Cancer-specific mortality
Cardiovascular mortality
url https://doi.org/10.1186/s12885-025-14229-2
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