Game-changing weight loss jabs could help ward off up to 10 types of cancer, research suggests.
Wegovy, Ozempic and other fat-melting injections have ushered in a new era in the war on obesity, but have also been linked to other health benefits, such as slashing the risk of heart attack and stroke and kidney disease.
Now experts have discovered the drugs could also reduce the risk of a range weight-related cancers including hard to diagnose types such as of pancreatic, kidney and ovarian.
American scientists, who carried out the trial, said the findings show the ‘potential benefits’ of the drugs in people at higher risk of these diseases.
However, they cautioned further research was necessary to confirm their findings.
Wegovy, Ozempic and other fat-melting injections have ushered in a new era in the war on obesity. Now experts have discovered the drugs may have other medical benefits — namely reducing the risk of pancreatic, kidney and even ovarian cancer
Researchers didn’t speculate why the drugs, which belong to class of medications called GLP-1 agonists, might lower a patient’s chances of cancer.
Under the study, researchers from Case Western Reserve University in Ohio tracked more than 1.6million patients who had type 2 diabetes, with an average age of 60, between 2005 and 2018.
Over a follow-up of 15 years, they compared the cancer risk among patients on GLP-1 agonists against those on insulin as well another cohort of GLP-1 with a group on metformin, another diabetes medication.
The 13 cancers, all linked to obesity, assessed included oesophageal, breast, colorectal, endometrial, gallbladder and stomach.
Kidney, ovarian, pancreatic, thyroid as well as hepatocellular carcinoma, meningioma, and multiple myeloma, were among the other cancers examined.
Writing in the journal, JAMA Network Open, scientists said: ‘Compared with insulins, GLP-1s were associated with a significantly lower risk of 10 of the 13 obesity associated cancers.’
Those taking insulin were more than twice as likely to be diagnosed with pancreatic, colorectal, gallbladder and meningioma cancer in comparison, they added.
Oesophageal, endometrial, stomach, kidney, ovarian and multiple myeloma accounted for the other six.
The biggest reduction was seen in gallbladder cancer, with patients on GLP-1 agonists having 65 per cent less chance of having the disease than insulin patients.
Other big reductions were seen for pancreatic cancer (59 per cent), ovarian cancer (48 per cent) and colorectal cancer (46 per cent).
However, results for thyroid cancer, however, showed ‘no statistically different risk’.
Research in mice and rats has suggested jabs like Ozempic and Wegovy, which work by mimicking hormones, could raise the risk of medullary thyroid cancer (MTC).
‘The findings from our study together with previous reports of insulins promoting cancer growth suggest that GLP-1s might be associated with increased risk of thyroid cancer’, the scientists said.
The risk was also lower in seven cancers among those taking GLP-1 agonists compared to metformin.
Wegovy and Ozempic work by triggering the body to produce a hormone called GLP-1 that is released naturally from the intestines after meals
These included pancreatic, ovarian, stomach and gallbladder.
Kidney cancers, meanwhile, showed an increased risk with GLP-1 treatment compared to metformin but a decrease relative to insulin.
Equally, ‘no signs of an increased risk’ of breast cancer were found in GLP-1 agonists compared to those treated with insulin or metformin.
Researchers, however, acknowledged the study had ‘several limitations’ including not controlling for variables such as patient weight loss, which may have impacted their obesity-related cancer risk.
But they added: ‘Given that type 2 diabetes and overweight or obesity have negative impacts on patients during cancer therapy, GLP-1s should be evaluated for control of these comorbid conditions during cancer therapy as well as for secondary prevention to delay cancer recurrence.’
The jabs have been shown to help users lose up to 33lbs (15.3kg) on average over 68 weeks.
They work by tricking the brain into thinking it’s full, consequently slashing appetite, and helping people lose weight as a result.
Semaglutide, most commonly known as Ozempic, has been available on the NHS since 2019, and in the US since 2017, for type 2 diabetics to manage blood sugar levels.
Another semaglutide drug was also approved in Britain for weight loss in 2022, and in the US in 2021, under the brand Wegovy.
Tirzepatide, branded as Mounjaro, was given the green light earlier this year in the UK, and in 2022 in the US, for the same reason.
The game-changing hormone injections have been hailed by the likes of celebs Elon Musk and Jeremy Clarkson.
Ministers in Britain plan to dole the drug to millions of overweight Brits to trim the country’s bulging benefits bill. Children could eventually be given the jabs, too.
Prescriptions for Ozempic and similar weight loss medications have also exploded in the US, with 39million people — or 12 percent of the population — now thought to have used them.
Like any medication, semaglutide can cause side effects that vary in both frequency and severity. Reported problems include nausea, constipation, diarrhoea, fatigue, stomach pain, headaches and dizziness.
Bizarre symptoms, such as hair loss, have also been reported among some patients.
Latest NHS data shows 26 per cent of adults in England are obese and a further 38 per cent are overweight but not obese. In the US an estimated 41.9 per cent of adult population are obese.
Despite the hormone mimicking jabs being designed to help overweight patients become healthier there have also been growing concerns about the number of normal weight and underweight patients taking them for cosmetic reasons.
Some have even needed A&E care after taking jabs in a bid to become ‘beach body ready’.
Young women in particular are believed to be obtaining the drug via online pharmacies, who offer them at between £150 to £200 ($200-$250) per month, after providing false information about their appearance and health.
In some cases, people taking the jabs without legitimate medical cause are thought to be doing so as a result of their eating disorders.
