Excess body weight can raise the risk of certain cancers. So researchers have been wondering: Might blockbuster weight-loss drugs like Wegovy, Ozempic and Zepbound also play a role in cancer prevention?
Now, a study being presented at a major cancer research conference study in Chicago suggests they could.
The study found a slightly lower risk of obesity-related cancers among adults in the United States with diabetes who took these popular medications compared to those who took another class of diabetes drug that’s not associated with weight loss.
The findings, presented Thursday at McCormick Place at the American Society of Clinical Oncology’s annual conference, was based on reviewing the records of 170,000 patients. This type of study can’t prove cause and effect. But experts say the findings hint at a link worth exploring further. More than a dozen cancers have been associated with obesity.
“This is a call to scientists and clinical investigators to do more work in this area to really prove or disprove this,” said Dr. Ernest Hawk of MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, who wasn’t involved in the study.
The study, funded by the National Institutes of Health, was led by Lucas Mavromatis, a medical student at New York University’s Grossman School of Medicine.
“Chronic disease and chronic disease prevention are some of my passions,” said Mavromatis, a former research fellow with an NIH training program.
GLP-1 receptor agonists are a class of medications, given via injections, used to treat diabetes. Some also are approved to treat obesity.
They work by mimicking hormones in the gut and the brain to regulate appetite and feelings of fullness. But they don’t work for everyone and can have side effects that include nausea and stomach pain.
The new study found that, after four years, people who took GLP-1 drugs had a 7% lower risk of developing an obesity-related cancer and an 8% lower risk of death from any cause when compared to those who took the other type of diabetes drug. There were 2,501 new cases of obesity-related cancer in the GLP-1 group compared to 2,671 cases in the other group.
The effect was evident in women but not statistically significant in men. The study couldn’t explain that difference, but Mavromatis said differences in blood drug concentration, weight loss, metabolism or hormones could be factors.
In the study, the researchers analyzed data from 43 U.S. health systems to compare two groups: people with obesity and diabetes who took GLP-1 drugs and people with the same conditions who took diabetes drugs such as sitagliptin. The two groups were equal in size and matched for other characteristics.
After four years, those who took GLP-1 drugs had a 7% lower risk of developing an obesity-related cancer and an 8% lower risk of death from any cause compared to those who took the other type of diabetes drug. There were 2,501 new cases of obesity-related cancer in the GLP-1 group compared to 2,671 cases in the other group.
The effect was evident in women but not statistically significant in men. The study couldn’t explain that, but Mavromatis said differences in blood drug concentration, weight loss, metabolism or hormones could be a reason.
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