[Cardiovascular diseases and cancer incidence in general population: results from MATISS cohort]

to assess the incidence of fatal and non-fatal major cardiovascular diseases and cancers in people with different cardiovascular risk profile of a longitudinal cohort.

longitudinal study carried out in a large sample of general population, with a median follow-up of 17.7 years.

MATISS longitudinal cohort, 7,491 men and women aged 20-75 years, free of cancer or cardiovascular diseases at baseline. Two cardiovascular risk groups (low-intermediate cardiovascular risk and high cardiovascular risk) and two educational levels (low level: primary school; middle/high level: middle/high school, university) have been considered.

for both cancer and cardiovascular events the standardized incidence rates have been calculated, taking into account the cardiovascular risk profile and the educational level.

people with a high-risk profile have higher incidence of major cardiovascular diseases and cancers. Furthermore, incidence rates are higher in people with lower educational level, except for cardiovascular diseases in men.

this study shows that, in the considered population, cancer incidence rates are higher than cardiovascular diseases rates; moreover, cancer incidence is higher in people with high-risk cardiovascular profile. The increase of prevalence of favourable risk profile in the general population could represent effective community strategies for prevention of cardiovascular diseases and cancer. Major attention should be dedicated towards people at lower socioeconomical level.