GLP-1 class drugs, including the obesity treatment Wegovy and the diabetes and obesity drug Mounjaro, may slow cancer progression and improve survival rates, according to a series of newly released studies.
According to The Wall Street Journal on the 24th (local time), four recently released studies found that patients taking GLP-1 class drugs showed lower risks of cancer metastasis and death.
Researchers at the Cleveland Clinic Cancer Institute tracked more than 10,000 patients who took GLP-1 drugs after an early-stage cancer diagnosis and found that they were less likely to develop metastasis than patients using other diabetes treatments.
Among lung cancer patients, only about 10% of those taking GLP-1 drugs progressed to advanced disease, compared with 22% in the control group. For breast cancer, the figures were 10% for the GLP-1 group versus 20% for the control group. The researchers said statistically significant declines were also observed in colorectal and liver cancer.
The findings are scheduled to be presented at the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) annual meeting, to be held in Chicago from the 29th through the 2nd of next month.
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Additional research pointed to a similar trend. A study by the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center analyzing some 137,000 breast cancer patients found that the five-year survival rate among GLP-1 drug users exceeded 95%, compared with 89.5% for non-users.
A University of Pennsylvania study analyzing mammography data from approximately 95,000 women found that women taking GLP-1 drugs were about 25% less likely to be diagnosed with breast cancer. The researchers said a similar trend held even after adjusting for major risk factors such as age and weight.
Experts say the precise mechanism by which GLP-1 drugs may affect cancer remains unclear. While weight loss and improved metabolic health may indirectly reduce cancer risk, some interpretations suggest the drugs may act directly on GLP-1 receptors found on the surface of certain cancer cells.
GLP-1 class drugs are currently used not only for blood sugar control and weight loss but also to reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease. Clinical trials are also underway to assess their potential in treating sleep apnea and curbing addictive behaviors.
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However, observers note that these studies have clear limitations because they are retrospective observational studies rather than randomized controlled trials. Since the participants were originally taking the drugs to treat obesity or diabetes, the anticancer effects of the drugs themselves cannot be conclusively established.
In particular, patients prescribed GLP-1 drugs tend to have relatively better access to medical care and receive consistent health management, raising the possibility that such factors contributed to improved outcomes.
Experts stress that randomized controlled trials accounting for income level, underlying conditions, and access to medical services are needed to clearly demonstrate any anticancer effect.
Still, Jaroslaw Maciejewski, deputy director of the Cleveland Clinic Cancer Institute, said, "It is hard to ignore the fact that similar results have been repeatedly observed in data involving hundreds of thousands of people."
Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk are reportedly not currently conducting formal studies on the anticancer effects of Mounjaro and Wegovy, respectively.
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