Weight loss drugs cut cancer risk in diabetes patients   

Key Takeaways

• People with type two diabetes who took GLP-1RA drugs had a lower risk of having 10 obesity-related cancers compared to those who used insulin therapy.
• While the study results suggest that these drugs may reduce the risk of certain obesity-related cancers better than insulin, more research is needed.

Recent research on glucagon-like peptide receptor agonists (known as GLP-1RAs), a class of drugs used to treat diabetes and obesity that includes Ozempic, Wegovy, Mounjaro and Zepbound, has uncovered surprising benefits beyond their intended use, like lowering the risk of fatal heart attacks. And now there may be another unforeseen advantage: People with type 2 diabetes who took these drugs had a lower risk of having 10 out of 13 obesity-related cancers, compared to those who used insulin therapy, according to a study published in JAMA Network Open.

For the study, researchers looked at electronic health records of 1.7 million patients who had type 2 diabetes, no prior diagnosis of obesity-related cancers, and had been prescribed GLP-1RAs, insulins, or metformin from March 2005 to November 2018. The scientists found that compared to patients who took insulin, people who took GLP-1RAs had a “significant risk reduction” in 10 of 13 obesity-related cancers. Those 10 cancers were esophageal, colorectal, endometrial, gallbladder, kidney, liver, ovarian, and pancreatic cancers, as well as meningioma and multiple myeloma. But the study found no decrease in cancer risk with GLP-1RAs compared to metformin, a different drug used to treat type 2 diabetes. While the study results suggest that these drugs may reduce the risk of certain obesity-related cancers better than insulins, more research is needed, they said. 

Edited by Miriam Kaplan, PhD

Source: Ralph Ellis, Medscape Medical News, July 8, 2024; see source article