Revolutionary weight loss injections like Wegovy and Ozempic reduce the risk of some of the most common and deadly cancers, a major study suggests.
Obese patients taking the drugs, which were originally produced to help diabetics, were almost a fifth less likely to develop cancers, including those of the breast, bowel, pancreas and ovary.
The American researchers also concluded that these patients were half as likely to die over a 15-year period compared to obese patients who did not receive the weekly injections. Experts believe this is because the drugs, known as GLP-1 agonists, protect against overweight-related cancers, such as thyroid, kidney and liver.
After smoking, obesity is thought to be the second most common cause of cancer in the UK and is responsible for around one in 20 new cases each year.
The trial, presented at the American Society of Clinical Oncology conference in Chicago, is the latest to show that GLP-1 agonists have important health benefits beyond weight loss.
Revolutionary weight loss injections like Wegovy and Ozempic could reduce the risk of some of the most common and deadly cancers (File Image)
It was originally developed as a treatment for diabetes, but in recent years it has become one of the most sought-after weight loss drugs in the world, even among celebrities (File image).
Last year, studies concluded that semaglutide, the active ingredient in Wegovy and Ozempic, reduces the risk of heart failure and kidney failure.
It was originally developed as a treatment for diabetes, but in recent years it has become one of the most in-demand weight loss drugs in the world, and a host of celebrities, including Elon Musk and Boris Johnson, have revealed who take it to lose weight. below.
Research suggests that patients taking semaglutide lose on average one-fifth of their body weight.
Last year, an even more effective GLP-1 agonist called tirzepatide was launched on the market.
In the new study, the health of 273 obese patients was followed on GLP-1 agonists for 15 years. Their results were compared to about 400 patients who underwent weight-loss surgery (known as bariatric surgery), as well as 20,000 obese people who received neither.
While patients on GLP-1 agonists did not lose as much weight as those who underwent bariatric surgery, both groups were about 19 percent less likely to develop obesity-related cancers compared to those who did not receive treatment. .
“Weight loss appears to be largely driving this reduction in cancer cases,” says Dr. Cindy Lin, a sports and exercise medicine expert at Case Western Reserve University in Ohio.