Weight-loss drugs may reduce cancer risk

NEW YORK (HealthDay News)—Popular GLP-1 weight-loss drugs, such as Ozempic and Zepbound, may help reduce a woman's risk of up to 14 obesity-related cancers, a new study suggests.

People taking a GLP-1 drug had a 7 percent lower risk of developing obesity-related cancer and an 8 percent lower risk of death from any cause, compared with others taking diabetes drugs called DPP-4 inhibitors, the scientists found.

Women, in particular, benefit from weight-loss drugs, according to experts attending the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) meeting.

Women taking the drugs had an 8 percent lower risk of obesity-related cancer, as well as a 20 percent lower overall risk of death, the results show. Men did not receive any statistically significant cancer benefit from the GLP-1 drugs.

“Although obesity is now recognized as an increasingly important cause of cancer in the United States and around the world, no medication has been proven to reduce the risk of cancer associated with obesity,” said lead researcher Lucas Mavromatis, a graduate student at the NYU Grossman School of Medicine.

“Our study begins to fill that gap by evaluating GLP-1 receptor agonists, a relatively new but widely prescribed medication that treats diabetes, obesity, and related conditions,” Mavromatis added.