Weight loss injections could start a “revolution” in cancer care, dramatically reducing cases and deaths, world-renowned experts suggest.
According to groundbreaking research, companies such as Ozempic and Wegovy can reduce the risk of obesity-related cancers by a fifth and bowel cancer by half.
Trial results presented at the world’s largest cancer conference found that breast cancer patients who took these types of drugs were a third less likely to die five years later.
Doctors say it will be the “icing on the cake” if the drugs, which have been shown to reduce heart attacks and strokes, had a comparable effect on cancer.
Significantly, they believe there are “multiple ways” they help lower cancer risks, in addition to the weight loss they are famous for.
Shown above is a package from Wegovy. Taken as weekly injections, it has been in short supply throughout the United States due to its potential to aid 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)
Wegovy and Ozempic work by causing the body to produce a hormone called GLP-1 that is released naturally from the intestines after meals.
GLP-1 agonist drugs, a new class of drugs that include Ozempic and Wegovy, appeared in several research presented at the world’s largest cancer conference.
Scientists at Case Western Reserve University (CWRU) in the United States studied data from more than 34,000 obese patients and found that the drugs could “delay or prevent” cancer.
The researchers looked at 13 different types of cancer with proven links to obesity, including breast, bowel and liver cancer.
They found that rates of obesity-related cancer were 19 percent lower among those who took the drugs for at least a year compared to those who did not.
When other health benefits were taken into account, these patients were half as likely to die during the 15-year period, the research found.
Co-authors Dr Cindy Lin and Dr Benjamin Liu said: “To our knowledge, this is the first study of its kind to investigate the comparative risk of obesity-related cancers with GLP-1 RA versus bariatric surgery.
“Our findings are important because they could change the paradigm of obesity treatment by suggesting that early intervention with GLP-1 RA could delay or prevent the development of obesity-related cancer.”
The results were comparable to those who lost more weight through surgery, suggesting that the effects could be the result of other factors at play, such as reduced inflammation.
Speaking in Chicago, Dr. Mitchell Lazar, director of Penn Medicine’s Diabetes, Obesity and Metabolism Institute, said: “Obesity is a risk factor for almost all cancers, in both men and women.
“Therefore, the revolution in the medical treatment of obesity has enormous potential to prevent new cancers, reduce the severity and growth rate of existing tumors, and synergize with new targeted cancer therapies.”
Another Harvard University study presented at the conference looked at 1,448 women with breast cancer and type 2 diabetes, and half were taking these medications.
All were receiving hormone therapies to control their disease, which can cause weight gain, and half also received GLP-1.
It was found to reduce deaths by a third (33 per cent), five years later heart attacks and strokes were also reduced by 41 per cent.
It comes after CWRU scientists discovered the drugs cut the risk of bowel cancer by up to half in patients with type 2 diabetes.
Researchers looked at more than 1.2 million patients who began diabetes treatment and found that those who were overweight or obese and used GLP-1 injections, which were initially licensed to treat diabetes, had a 50 percent less likely to develop bowel cancer than patients taking insulin.
While losing weight is known to help reduce risk, scientists also saw a 44 percent reduction in all diabetes patients who used the injections, regardless of weight.
Julie Gralow, chief medical officer of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO), said the research was still in its infancy but was showing potential for the future.
She said: “I think there are so many potential and already proven health benefits of these drugs, it would be the icing on the cake if we saw that they also reduce cancers.”
“So, for the right population, I have high hopes for overall health improvement from this class of drugs.”
Cancer Research UK’s chief clinician, Professor Charles Swanton, said: “Although GLP1 RAs are effective drugs for managing weight loss, it is still early days in our understanding of the drugs and whether they can reduce the risk of breast cancer. people”.
He added: “Well-designed prospective trials with randomized data will provide more clarity about the potential and safety of weight-loss drugs to reduce people’s cancer risk.”