Doctors said that weight-loss drugs are a powerful weapon in the fight against cancer. They have “enormous” potential to shrink tumours and prevent new cases.
Blockbuster injections such as Wegovy have revolutionised the treatment of obesity, and recently been approved for use in other areas of medicine, including reducing the risk of heart attacks, strokes and cardiovascular-related deaths.
Experts now say that they are increasingly convinced that weight-loss medications could play a major role in the prevention and treatment of cancer, which is the second leading cause for death worldwide.
The study, presented at the largest cancer conference in the world, found that patients who took the drugs had a 19% lower risk of developing 13 obesity-related diseases, such as ovarian cancer, liver cancer, colorectal cancer, pancreatic cancer, bowel cancer, and breast cancer.
Case Western Reserve University, Ohio, conducted a study involving 34,000 patients. The researchers found that patients who did not take the GLP-1 receptor agonists or RAs were only half as likely to have died over a 15-year period as those who had.
Researchers Dr Cindy Lin, and Dr Benjamin Liu said that their findings could alter the paradigm for obesity management, as they suggest early intervention with GLP-1 receptor antagonists can delay or prevent obesity related cancer development.
A second study presented at the American Society of Clinical Oncology’s annual meeting suggests that weight-loss medications could help breast cancer patients improve their long-term chances of survival. Researchers at Memorial Sloan Kettering cancer centre in New York say the jabs can reduce the risk of cancer returning and are a “new weapon” against the disease.
A third study, led by Yale University and released at ASCO, which also looked at breast cancer patients suggested that taking weight loss drugs could reduce the likelihood of the disease returning.
Dr Mitchell Lazar of the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine’s institute for diabetes obesity and metabolism, speaking at ASCO in Chicago, stated: “GLP-1-based therapies are highly efficient at producing weight loss. This is one of the fundamental mechanisms that improve cancer outcomes through the weight loss they produce.
Obesity is associated with nearly all types of cancer, both in men and women. The medical revolution to treat obesity can prevent cancers from occurring, reduce the severity of tumours and their growth rate, and work in synergy with other cancer-specific treatments.
Dr Jennifer Ligibel of the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, who was not part of the study, said that the preliminary findings were “exciting” and added to the previous research suggesting that the drugs may reduce cancer risks.
A report published in December revealed that they are associated with a 50% lower risk of bowel carcinoma among people with type 2 diabetics. Ligibel stated that individuals with diabetes who took a GLP-1RA had a reduced risk of colorectal carcinoma compared to those who did not take one of these drugs.
Dr Julie Gralow is the chief medical officer at ASCO. She said that the evidence wasn’t clear as to whether weight loss was the only factor in the reduction of cancer risk, or if there were unknown factors.
Gralow is a world-renowned expert in cancer who was named Woman Oncologist of the Year in 2023. She said that she was certain that the jabs will become a greater focus in cancer prevention research. She added that the more we do to prevent cancer and reduce risk factors, the better.
I think there are many health benefits that these drugs can provide. It would be the cherry on top if they also reduced cancer.
I am optimistic about the overall health benefits of this drug class.
Prof Charles Swanton of Cancer Research UK cautioned that it is still “early”. Some have suggested that the drugs may even increase the risk of cancer, but recent studies on Thyroid cancer or Pancreatic Cancer cast doubt on these concerns.
Swanton said that “well-designed prospective studies with randomised data would provide more clarity about the potential and safety weight-loss medications to lower people’s cancer risk.”
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