Overview
- Researchers in Japan reported Monday that people at stage 3 or 4 on the cardiovascular‑kidney‑metabolic scale had about a 25–30% higher chance of developing cancer than those with no risk factors.
- Cardiovascular‑kidney‑metabolic, or CKM, syndrome combines heart, kidney and metabolic problems and is graded from stage 0 with no risk factors to stage 4 with established cardiovascular disease.
- The team analyzed national insurance claims and health check data for nearly 1.4 million adults from 2014 to 2023 and followed them for about three and a half years to track new cancer diagnoses.
- Risk rose little at early stages, with stage 1 linked to a 3% increase and stage 2 to a 2% increase, while the sharp jump appeared only at stages 3 and 4 after adjusting for age, sex, smoking, alcohol use and weight.
- Experts cautioned the findings show association, not causation, and may not generalize beyond Japan, though they said CKM staging could guide targeted screening as many U.S. adults carry multiple CKM risk factors.